Independent · Australia
What do you need help with?
A free, independent guide to DVA (the Department of Veterans’ Affairs) for veterans. Not DVA, not Defence.
To speak to DVA, call 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372). That is the claims line, not counselling. Open Arms, above, is for a crisis.
A few plain questions, then it points you to the right guide.
New rules started on 1 July 2026. What changed.
On a phone, add this site to your home screen so you can open it without searching. On an iPhone, use the Share menu, then Add to Home Screen.
More tools and guides
Looking for a word you don’t know? Try the glossary. Wondering how long DVA takes? Read about delays.
DVA published wait times · as at 30 September 2026 · last checked 19 October 2026
MRCA initial liability: 116 days average to process (last 12 months)
DVA no longer publishes one all-claims median. The figures below are averages. Process time includes allocation and excludes time waiting on you or a third party.
From 1 July 2026, if you are claiming an eligible presumptive-liability condition and provide a confirmed diagnosis from an appropriately qualified medical practitioner, DVA says the claim may be determined in less than 2 weeks as part of the allocation process. That is not the 116-day average, and it is not a guarantee. Presumptive liability.
MRCA initial liability
116 days to process · 83 with DVA, 33 waiting on others
29,201 on hand · 13 days to allocate
MRCA permanent impairment
171 days to process · 123 with DVA, 47 waiting on others
17,908 on hand · 146 days to allocate
Historical initial liability (DRCA / VEA)
301 days average age of files still on hand
25,298 on hand
DRCA permanent impairment
269 days average age of files still on hand
31,820 on hand
Copied from DVA’s 30 September 2026 data (page last updated 15 October 2026). DVA now publishes averages, not a single all-claims median. “Process” time includes allocation and excludes time DVA is waiting on you or a third party. Your claim can be faster or slower. If this site and the official page disagree, the official page wins. DVA source · If yours is sitting
Crisis support · no form
Acute Support Package — short-term help when the household is in crisis.
The Acute Support Package (ASP) is not cash in your account and it is not household services. DVA pays providers for things like childcare, tutoring, and help around the home when a new circumstance has knocked the family over. Call 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372). There is no form.
Tools most veterans miss
What clock am I on?
The Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) is usually 12 months. The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) after that is 3 months, not 90 days. A Freedom of Information (FOI) practical refusal is 14 days — silence withdraws the request.
Count the window
What changed
Five-point gate, Chapter 26 baseline, $287.94 redemption ceiling, and why Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP) eligibility is not the same as taking the payment.
What actually changed
Household services
Cleaning, laundry, meals, shopping, some garden work — if accepted conditions stop you doing them. Form D9319 to hhs@dva.gov.au. Not the Acute Support Package, not Veterans’ Home Care.
Read the guide
Impairment points calculator
44 + 40 is not 84. Combined the GARP way it is 66. Four combined points short of Gold Card is not four points on a new letter. Old-scheme (DRCA) files are different after 1 July 2026.
Combine your letter points
Find local support
Postcode in, sitting federal member, senators, DVA’s state office, and the official registers for an advocate, a council, and a state MP. Runs in this browser.
Enter a postcode
If you were abused in service
Treatment first — mental health care does not need you to prove service caused the condition. Compensation is a specialised team. Reparation is a different door.
Pathways, in order
Get the papers
You cannot argue a delay from memory.
Personal Information Request is faster for your own file. FOI is the legal right — 14 days to acknowledge, 30 days to decide — with review at DVA then the OAIC. Lodge the FOI webform or PIR webform, or email Information.Access@dva.gov.au with form D8601.
Start with these
Getting started
Start here: how DVA claims actually work
A plain map of liability, treatment, permanent impairment, incapacity, and hardship — and what changed on 1 July 2026.
Money and hardship
Hardship, the Acute Support Package, and needing money this month
What ASP actually funds, who is eligible after 1 July 2026, what it will not pay, and how to ask without a form.
Money and hardship
Household services, attendant care, and help at home
DVA can pay for cleaning, laundry, meals, shopping, and some garden work if accepted conditions stop you doing them. Most veterans never claim it. VEA veterans can, from 1 July 2026.
How DVA treats you
If you were sexually or physically abused in service
Treatment first (you do not have to prove service caused the mental health condition), then a sensitive compensation path, then Ombudsman reparation if that still fits.
Who sits above DVA
Ministers, shadow, and the Commission
Use a current name when you write. Roles move — check the official page before you send. Writing to a minister does not pause a VRB time limit.
Minister Matt Keogh · Shadow Michael McCormack · Secretary Alison Frame
Full list and official linksVeteran-built
Not DVA. Not Defence. Written from a long fight with the department, checked against official sources, with the counter-arguments included. Why this exists
Keep your own file
Track numbers and dates in this browser only — never stored on our servers. My file. Privacy
Crisis is separate
Open Arms 1800 011 046 sits on every page for a reason. Claims can wait an hour. Safety cannot.
Help keep this field guide honest
Built by a veteran, for veterans. If something is wrong, missing, or useful, say so. Do not include claim numbers, names, or medical detail. Privacy