Guides
19 field notes on how DVA claims actually work after 1 July 2026. Read the one that matches today. Official links sit at the bottom of each guide.
Start here if you were already in the system
What changed on 1 July 2026
The VETS Act closed DRCA and VEA to new claims. The traps — the five-point gate, the redemption ceiling, SRDP eligibility versus election — are on that page.
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.
8 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
The VETS Act: what 1 July 2026 actually did
One Act for new claims, GARP M for impairment, grandfathered payments, and why old DRCA/VEA files still matter.
9 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
How to lodge a claim that can actually be decided
MyService, what to attach, Statements of Principles, and how to stop sequential information requests eating six months.
8 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Working with an advocate (and when to do it yourself)
ATDP advocates, what they can and cannot do, and how to brief one so you are not starting from zero.
6 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Presumptive liability: when DVA does not make you prove the SoP
Claims lodged from 1 July 2026 for a listed condition, with a confirmed diagnosis, can be accepted as service-related without proving a Statement of Principles factor. Not every claim. Not a skip of the diagnosis.
6 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Asking an AI without being misled
A prompt you can paste into any AI. It cannot make an answer verified. It can stop the model pretending it checked.
6 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Complaints and delay
When a claim is stuck: delay that is just slow, and delay that is defective
How to chase a live claim, when to ask for expedition, and when delay itself becomes a CDDA or Ombudsman issue.
10 min · Last checked 17 September 2026
CDDA: compensation when DVA’s administration caused extra harm
RMG 409, what “defective administration” means, how to quantify detriment, and why this is discretionary.
11 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Get your file: FOI and personal information requests
You cannot argue a delay, a SPOC, or a medical override from memory. PIR is faster. FOI is the path with review rights. Both are how you get the papers.
12 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Complaining to the Commonwealth Ombudsman
When DVA’s own complaint process has failed, what the Ombudsman can do, and how to write a complaint they can investigate.
7 min · Last checked 19 October 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.
9 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Incapacity payments, offsets, and the Douglas argument
How wage replacement is calculated, what gets offset, and why Douglas [2020] FCAFC 220 is a tax case — not a magic wand.
10 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
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.
11 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Evidence
Medical evidence that actually moves a claim
What a useful specialist report contains, how GARP M tables get used, and what to do when a delegate rewrites your psychiatrist.
10 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Permanent impairment, GARP M, and the 80-point questions
How PI is assessed after 1 July 2026, weekly versus lump sum, section 80, SRDP, and why combined ratings matter.
9 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Decisions and appeals
How DVA treats you
Single points of contact, behaviour protocols, and reasonable adjustments
What to do if DVA restricts how you can speak to them, and how to keep the file about your disability rather than your tone.
9 min · Last checked 17 September 2026
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.
9 min · Last checked 19 October 2026
Allied health: the $5,000 cap is off the table
On 17 September 2026 the Minister took the proposed $5,000 yearly allied-health cap off the table. Treatment continues as it does today. Provider fee increases are still promised from 1 July 2027. The GP treatment cycle has not been declared gone.
4 min · Last checked 19 October 2026