Gold Card: how veterans actually get one

For most veterans under 70 the Gold Card (Veteran Card – All Conditions) comes from impairment points, not a form. Start here: get your conditions accepted, get them rated, and know how the points combine.

Step 1
Get into MyService and see what DVA already has
Register for MyService through myGov. It shows the conditions DVA has accepted as caused by your service (your accepted conditions). If you have a White Card, those are the conditions it covers. Write the list down. That list is what the points come from.
Step 2
Claim every condition you have a diagnosis for
A condition that has never been claimed gives you no points. Lodge the diagnosis a doctor has already written. In MyService you lodge one condition at a time. The lodging a claim guide covers what to put in.
Step 3
Get your accepted conditions rated
Each accepted condition is given an impairment rating in points. DVA’s permanent impairment page (updated 29 May 2026) says this is considered in the needs assessment after DVA accepts a condition, and that you can also ask for it at any time in writing. The permanent impairment guide explains how ratings are built.
Step 4
Read the combined figure on your decision letter
DVA combines the ratings into one number. If that combined number is 60 or more under the MRCA (the Act that covers all new claims since 1 July 2026), DVA sends the card. There is usually no separate Gold Card form for this. If the letter says 60 or more and no card arrives, call 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372).

Points combine. They do not add up.

This is the part that catches people. Ratings are combined using the method in DVA’s impairment guide (GARP M), largest first. Each new rating counts only against what is left of 100, so the total grows more slowly than adding them up.

44 and 40 combine to 66, not 84.
If you are on 56 combined, a new 4-point condition takes you to about 58, not 60.
On this site’s calculator, someone on 56 needs a new condition rated about 8 points to reach 60.
A worsening of a condition you already have is different: the new rating replaces the old one, then everything is combined again.

If you are short of 60

Look for conditions you have a diagnosis for but never claimed. Each one that is accepted and rated adds to the combined figure.
If an accepted condition has got worse, ask for it to be reassessed. Since 1 July 2026, DVA measures a worsening from a starting rating (baseline) under GARP M, not from zero.
Before you lodge anything new on an old VEA or DRCA file, read What changed on 1 July 2026. A new claim can change which rules apply to you.

Other ways to get the card

Points are the most common way, but not the only one. DVA’s Veteran Card – All Conditions page (updated 11 September 2026) also lists these:

Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP): being eligible is enough. You do not have to take the payment (see below).
Additional Disablement Amount (ADA), for veterans of age pension age with high impairment (see below).
Qualifying service and over 70: DVA sends the card automatically. If it has not arrived, download form D3057 (PDF). That form is only for this age-70 route, not for points.
Under 70 and on a Service Pension, plus one of: blind in both eyes, at least 30 MRCA impairment points, a Disability Compensation Payment at 50% of the general rate or more, or income and assets under the limits on DVA’s page.
Under the VEA: a Disability Compensation Payment at 100% of the general rate or more, or an extra amount for specific disabilities.
Ex-prisoner of war, British Commonwealth Occupation Force service in Japan (16 August 1945 to 28 April 1952), or the British Nuclear Test program.
Family: War Widow(er)’s Pension, the Orphan’s Pension, and some partners and children of a veteran whose death is accepted. The full list is in who gets the Gold Card.

If you can no longer work: SRDP

DVA’s Special Rate Disability Pension page (updated 1 July 2026) says that once you are eligible for SRDP, even if you choose not to take the payment, you get a Gold Card printed TPI. DVA’s DRCA veterans page (updated 11 June 2026) lists the tests:

you are receiving MRCA incapacity payments;
you have 50 or more impairment points;
your treating specialists confirm you cannot work more than 10 hours a week; and
they confirm rehabilitation is unlikely to improve your ability to work.

If you are age pension age: ADA

DVA’s Additional Disablement Amount page (updated 1 July 2026) says it is for veterans who are age pension age or older, have at least 70 impairment points and a lifestyle rating of at least 6, are not on MRCA incapacity payments, and are not receiving SRDP or the EDA, Special Rate (TPI), Temporary Special Rate or Intermediate Rate under the VEA. DVA can start the claim itself from what it already holds, or you can ask by email at ADApayments@dva.gov.au. The card that comes with it is printed EDA.

If your conditions were accepted under the DRCA

Already have a Gold Card?

Keep it. DVA’s legislation reform page on the Veteran Card (updated 2 February 2026) says VEA Gold Card holders have no change to their entitlements, and MRCA eligibility stays the same. What the card pays for, and the car, transport and bill concessions, are in Gold Card: what it covers.

The law, briefly

The 60-point route is section 281 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. In plain terms: once DVA (for the Commission) has decided your impairment from one or more service conditions is 60 or more points, and it stays at 60 or more, you are entitled to treatment for any condition provided after that decision. Subsection (2) limits this when your only condition is a single aggravated injury or disease: then the impairment from the aggravation (or material contribution) itself has to be, and stay, 60 or more points.