Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) benefits and services overview 108-03050000

DVA is the Australian Government department that provides support, services and information for the following members of the veteran community:

• Veterans, their dependants, family members and carers
• Serving and former serving Australian Defence Forces (ADF) members
• War widow/ers
• Australian British Nuclear Tests participants
• Members of the Australian Federal Police (AFP)
• Students, teachers and historians

The support, services and information DVA provide includes:

• Financial support
• Health care
• Rehabilitation
• Mental health care
• Help returning to civilian life
• Commemoration and Recognition
• Home care assistance
• Help with housing
• Historical information

Most payments administered by DVA are not paid under Social Security legislation. Information on DVA legislation can be found on the DVA website. This includes:

• Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA)
• Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA)
• Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA)

There are other passages of legislation that outline DVA entitlements and administration by DVA.

See the Resources page for a link to the DVA website.

DVA provides support, funding and services for:

• veterans and their eligible dependants
• war widow/ers
• Australian British Nuclear Test participants

DVA defines a veteran as any person who has served more than one day or is serving in the ADF.

A DVA client is a veteran or eligible dependant who receives a payment or service from DVA. Not all people who approach the agency to discuss DVA payments or services will be a current DVA client. For example, a person may have recently discharged from the armed forces and is looking for information on how to claim a payment from DVA or a person who approaches may be a caregiver providing support to a veteran.

The agency and DVA both provide payments and services to a wide range of people and their families. A person may be receiving a payment or service from both entities at the same time. For example, when a person receives an income support payment from DVA and Family Assistance payments from the agency. They are known as mutual customers. Both the agency and DVA hold an interest in mutual customer’s outcomes.

Information on payments and services paid to mutual customers is transferred between the agency and DVA. The information transfer is:

• automatic through a designated data exchange, or
• manual through a specialised clearance process

Mutual customers may also provide payment information or advise of any changes to their circumstances as part of their notification obligations.

To support the delivery of services between the 2 entities, some roles are undertaken by the agency. These roles include:

• providing support to mutual customers who contact the agency:
• by phone
• when they attend a Services Australia service centre
• making sure mutual customers receive the correct payment entitlement

Mutual customer contacts the agency by phone

When a mutual customer contacts by phone, Service Officers are expected to:

• attempt to resolve the enquiry where they are able
• confirm DVA payment information already recorded on the agency’s customer record

Mutual customer attends a service centre

The agency provides a range of face-to-face services on behalf of DVA including:

• the DVA Standardised Service Offer, delivered in all Services Australia service centres, and mobile service centres
• Veteran Information Service (VIS) delivered in 22 regional Services Australia service centres provided by 'VIS officers' (agency staff trained by DVA). VIS services include:
• the Standardised Service Offer
• additional items designed to complement the DVA Veterans Access Network (VAN)

Payment accuracy

DVA payments can affect a customer’s entitlement to payments administered by the agency, this is why the agency records the details of DVA payments. DVA payments can be complex and it may be necessary to handoff an enquiry to an appropriately skilled staff member or area. The agency’s specialised DVA Clearance Team complete all DVA payment coding.

A mutual customer may move between the 2 entities, due to gaining or losing eligibility to particular payments and services. There may also be a direct transfer from one payment to another, often with overlapping payment dates.

To support accurate payment outcomes and to minimise disruptions, a specialised clearance process exists between the agency and DVA to confirm:

• start date of payments
• rate of payments
• overpayment due to overlapping payments
• debt amounts including adjustments, any amounts recovered from arrears if applicable, as well as any subsequent outstanding debt amounts

DVA clients and members of the veteran community may benefit from additional support or services available through DVA, the agency or third party organisations, including:

• Open Arms - Veterans & Families Counselling who offer mental health support for Navy, Army and Air Force personnel, veterans and their families
• Services Australia Social Workers – Can provide immediate support to DVA clients if there is an imminent risk of suicide or self-harm
• Financial Information Service (FIS) - Provides financial information and how to refer customers to a FIS Officer
• Beyond Blue – Provides mental health and wellbeing support
• Lifeline – Provides Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24 hour crisis support
• 1800RESPECT – Is available for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence

See the Resources page for links to third party organisations.