Contacts
Official numbers and pages. Prefer these over Facebook groups when a time limit is running. For a sitting MP, senators, and the DVA office on a postcode, use Find local support.
If you are not safe
- Emergency — 000Immediate danger
- Open Arms — Veterans & Families Counselling — 1800 011 04624/7, free, military-aware
- ADF Mental Health All-hours Support Line — 1800 628 03624/7, for ADF members and their families (listed on DVA’s crisis contacts page)
- 1800RESPECT — 1800 737 73224/7 sexual assault, domestic and family violence
- Lifeline — 13 11 1424/7 crisis support
- Suicide Call Back Service — 1300 659 46724/7
Crisis
- Open Arms
1800 011 046 — counselling for veterans and families
- 1800RESPECT
1800 737 732 — 24/7 sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling
DVA and government
- 1800 VETERAN
DVA general line and Acute Support Package requests
- MyService
Lodge and track claims
- DVA home
Benefits, treatment, claims
- DVA feedback / complaints
Use this before the Ombudsman where you can
- FOI request webform
Statutory FOI request — identity collected in the form
- PIR webform
Faster administrative access to your own information — no OAIC review
- Form D8601 — Information Access (PDF)
Paper FOI / PIR application if you email or post
- Acute Support Package
No form — call 1800 VETERAN
- Form D9319 — Household Services (PDF)
Claim for cleaning, laundry, meals, garden — email completed form to hhs@dva.gov.au
- Form D1351 — Attendant Care (PDF)
Personal care claim — doctor completes part; email to hhs@dva.gov.au
- Household services compensation
Official HHS page — rates, eligibility, how payment works
- Attendant care
Official attendant care page
- Household Services mailbox
- Veterans’ Home Care
1300 550 450 — Gold/White Card domestic help, different from HHS
- Legislation reform (VETS Act)
Official 1 July 2026 change pages
- GARP M 2026
Impairment guide now in force
- RMA Statements of Principles
Factors that connect conditions to service
- Presumptive liability (DVA)
Listed conditions from 1 July 2026 — diagnosis still required
- How to apply for Initial Liability in MyService
One condition per initial-liability claim in MyService
- Accepted conditions on your Veteran Card
MyService list you can show a GP — White Card holders especially
- MEPI webform (privately incurred medical expenses)
Reimbursement if you hold a Veteran Card and already paid. D1181 if you cannot use the webform
- Travel for treatment (from 1 July 2026)
Private vehicle 68 cents a kilometre. The old 50 km minimum for MRCA/DRCA no longer applies. Claim in MyService
- Incapacity payments (DVA)
VEA DCP and MRCA incapacity can both be paid from 1 July 2026 — only above-general-rate DCP is offset by incapacity
- Allied health — Minister’s 17 September 2026 statement
$5,000 yearly cap taken off the table. Fee increases still promised from 1 July 2027
- DVA Information Access email
FOI and personal information
Review and complaints
- Veterans’ Review Board
First external review, no fee
- VRB applications
reviews@vrb.gov.au — holding applications and reviews
- Administrative Review Tribunal
Second-tier review (AAT replacement)
- Commonwealth Ombudsman
Investigates DVA administration
- Defence Force Ombudsman
Reparation for abuse in Defence — separate from DVA compensation
- National Redress Scheme
Institutional child sexual abuse — separate from DVA and DFO
- OAIC
FOI IC review and privacy
Advocates
- ATDP Advocacy Register
Find a free/low-cost accredited advocate
Reference
- CDDA scheme (Finance)
Defective administration compensation
- RMG 409
The CDDA decision guide
Veteran Assist is independent of DVA and Defence. The publisher is not an Australian legal practitioner. This site is not a law firm and not an ATDP practice. Nothing here is legal, financial, or clinical advice, and nothing creates a professional relationship. Australian Consumer Law rights are not excluded. Terms of use · Privacy · About. Crisis: Open Arms 1800 011 046, Lifeline 13 11 14, or 000.