RAAF Radschool Association Magazine

Payments – Veteran Payment.

Veteran payment provides interim financial support to current and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) who have an undetermined claim for a mental health condition under either the DRCA or the MRCA and are incapable of working for more than eight hours per week. Veteran payment can also be paid to partners. The veteran payment is subject to an income and assets test.

For further information please see DVA Veteran Payment Overview and How to access the Veteran Payment.

Pensions - Income Support.

Service pension provides a regular income for people with limited means. A service pension can be paid to veterans on the grounds of age or invalidity, and to eligible partners, widows and widowers. It is subject to an income and assets test.

The age service pension is paid to veterans earlier than the age pension paid by Services Australia, recognising that the effects of war service may be intangible and result in premature ageing and/or loss of earning power. However, the invalidity service pension may be granted at any age before the person turns age pension age.

Service pension is paid under the VEA to Australian veterans and mariners, Commonwealth veterans, and allied veterans and allied mariners who have qualifying service. Commonwealth veterans, allied veterans and allied mariners must also have been an Australian resident for a certain period. In certain circumstances, Partner Service Pension can be paid under the VEA to eligible partners and former partners of veterans, as well as to eligible widows and widowers who are not receiving a war widow/er’s pension.

Income support supplement (ISS) provides a regular income additional to the war widow’s/widower's pension for Australian war widows and widowers (including wholly dependent partners) with limited means. It is also subject to an income and assets test. Supplements and allowances which may be payable in association with service pension and ISS include pension supplement, rent assistance, and remote area allowance.

For further information please see Service Pension Overview, Partner Service Pension, Income Support Supplement Overview, IS58 Qualifying Service in Post-Second World War Conflicts.

Pensions - Disability Compensation.

Disability pension is paid under the VEA to compensate veterans for injuries or diseases caused or aggravated by war service or certain defence service rendered on behalf of Australia before 1 July 2004. The amount of disability pension paid depends on the level of incapacity suffered as a result of war-caused or defence-caused injuries and diseases.

Higher rates of pension, such as Special and Intermediate Rates, are known as Above General Rate (AGR) pensions and are payable when the veteran is severely incapacitated and unable to earn a normal wage because of the effects of their accepted condition/s on their capacity to work. The Extreme Disablement Adjustment rate may be considered for veterans who have reached 65 years of age and are not eligible to receive a Special or Intermediate Rate of pension.

Supplements and allowances may be paid in association with disability pension. These include: attendant allowance, loss of earnings allowances, vehicle assistance scheme, clothing allowance, decoration allowance, and recreational transport allowance.

For further information please see Overview of Disability Pensions and Allowances.

Pensions - War widows and widowers.

War widow/er's pension is paid under the VEA to compensate widowed partners of veterans who have died as a result of war service or eligible defence service. The pension will be granted automatically if the deceased veteran was an ex-prisoner of war, had been receiving disability pension at the Extreme Disablement Adjustment, Special Rate, Intermediate Rate, Temporary Special Rate, or at an increased rate for a condition specified in any of items 1 to 8 of subsection 27(1) of the VEA - these items relate to double amputees who may also be blind in one eye. In all other cases a claim needs to be lodged with the Department and the pension may then be granted if the veteran's death is determined to have been caused by war or eligible defence service.

Orphan's pension may also be payable to dependent children of deceased veterans. War widow’s/widower’s and orphan’s pensions are not affected by other income except from other compensation payments.

For further information please see War Widow’s/Widower’s and Orphan’s Pensions.

Compensation following death.

Compensation may be provided under the MRCA to the dependants of deceased members and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) who die or were severely injured as a result of their service on or after 1 July 2004. For further information please see Compensation for Dependants under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. Similar compensation coverage may be available under the DRCA, if the ADF member's death relates to injuries and diseases suffered as a result of peacetime and peacekeeping service up to 30 June 2004 and operational service between 7 April 1994 and 30 June 2004. For further information please see How to Claim Benefits under the DRCA.

Housing and Loans Assistance.

Subsidised loan assistance and insurance benefits are available to eligible current and former ADF personnel. The Defence Service Homes (DSH) Scheme provides a subsidised loan of up to $25,000 repayable over 25 years to qualifying ex-service men and women (and certain dependents). A Home Support Loan of up to $10,000 is also available to assist with the cost of home maintenance and modifications and other housing-related purposes. For further information, please see Defence Service Home Loans or visit the DHOAS website at www.dhoas.gov.au.

DVA administers the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme (DHOAS) on behalf of the Department of Defence. DHOAS is available to current and former ADF personnel, and their surviving partners, who have served in the ADF after 1 July 2008, completed a qualifying period and accrued a Service Credit. If you served between 15 May 1985 and 30 June 2008, you may have been eligible for the Defence Home Owner Scheme (DHOS), which closed on 30 June 2010. In some very limited circumstances, if you were eligible but unable to apply for your benefits before the scheme closed, you may be able to access benefits under the DHOAS scheme.

For more information phone DHOAS on 1300 434 627 or visit the Previous subsidy schemes – DHOS/DSH page of the DHOAS website at https://www.dhoas.gov.au/previous-schemes-dsh-and-dhos.html.

Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme.

Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme (DSHIS) provides attractive home, contents and other personal insurance to all persons who are eligible under the Veterans’ Entitlement Act 1986 and/or the above Loan Schemes, regardless of whether they have a DSH or DHOAS loan. For further information please see Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme.

Other services and support.

DVA provides a range of services and support to assist veterans to manage their service injuries or diseases. This includes assistance with managing domestic tasks such as house cleaning, lawn-mowing, laundry and shopping; assistance with managing your personal care needs; provision of respite services; assistance with modifications to vehicles; and aids and appliances to help you to maintain independence, remain in your home, return to work safely, and improve your quality of life.

For further information please see:

MyService is on online tool that provide access to free mental health treatment, support for service related conditions, tracks the status of the claim, access to a digital DVA health card and information about accepted conditions. MyService is available to current and former serving ADF members and their families. To register for Myservice visit dva.gov.au/myservice.

DVA Veteran Support Officers are located on over 40 serving bases throughout Australia. These bases are routinely visited by DVA staff to conduct entitlement briefings and assist individuals with information on support available from DVA as well as assisting in the preparation and submission of claims.

Members and readers are reminded that veterans aged 70 years or more who have qualifying service are eligible to receive a DVA Gold card for medical treatment.

To lodge a claim go to the DVA web site and search firstly for Gold card and then “How to get your Gold Card”. This will bring up the form “Application for a Gold card for Veterans of Australia’s Defence Force” DVA form D3057.

When completing the form you can ignore Question 16. We believe that this question is irrelevant and inappropriate and we have requested the department to remove it.

Vetaffairs is DVA’s official newspaper for Australia’s veteran community and which is distributed quarterly. If you would like to receive the newspaper, go HERE.