DVA Gold Card Concessions TAS: Full List of Benefits

Tasmania provides Gold Card concessions across transport, registration, rates, water, and spectacles. However, there is a critical gap that affects many veterans: Tasmania’s electricity concession is not available to Gold Card holders without a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC). Given that electricity is Tasmania’s primary heating source, this gap is more significant than in warmer states.

Public transport

Tasmania has embossing-specific transport tiers.

Vehicle registration

All Gold Card holders receive a $60.20 discount on 12-month motor vehicle registration, plus a 40% motor tax rebate on goods-carrying vehicles. TPI Gold Card holders additionally receive a 100% motor tax exemption and 100% stamp duty exemption on registration. Driver’s licence fee concessions apply to all Gold Card holders. Apply through a Service Tasmania outlet at your next registration renewal.

Council rates

A 30% remission of rates and charges applies under the Local Government (Rates and Charges Remissions) Regulations 2014.

Electricity — Gold Card alone does not qualify

This is the most important callout for Tasmanian veterans. The Annual Electricity Concession (approximately 176.866 cents per day, applied as a daily credit) requires a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) or Health Care Card (HCC). The DVA Gold Card alone is not listed as an eligible card for Tasmania’s electricity concession.

If you hold a Gold Card but no PCC, you are not entitled to the electricity concession as a standalone Gold Card holder. Contact DVA (1800 838 372) to confirm whether you qualify for a PCC through DVA, which would then unlock the electricity concession. Tasmania has no reticulated natural gas network, so there is no gas concession.

Water — available to all Gold Card holders

Unlike electricity, TasWater’s concession is available to all DVA Gold Card holders. The concession provides up to $242.56 per year — approximately $121.28 reduction on water charges and $121.28 on sewerage charges. Contact TasWater directly to register. Present your Gold Card. Property must be your principal place of residence.

Ambulance

Tasmania provides free ambulance transport for all Tasmanian residents — this is not means-tested or card-dependent. Ambulance Tasmania’s services are state-funded, so Gold Card holders benefit as residents regardless of card type. DVA provides additional national coverage as a secondary layer. There is no subscription or membership to arrange.

Spectacles

DVA-funded optical services are available to all Gold Card holders nationally: one pair of reading glasses plus one pair of distance glasses (or bifocal/multifocal/progressive) every two years. Providers bill DVA directly. Tasmania does not have its own state spectacle subsidy scheme that covers Gold Card holders separately from DVA entitlements.

Veteran Wellbeing Voucher

The Tasmanian Government provides a Veteran Wellbeing Voucher Program — $200 in vouchers (two $100 vouchers) toward sport and community recreation club memberships for all DVA card holders. Contact your local Service Tasmania outlet or the Tasmanian Veterans Advisory Council to access these vouchers.

Note: Gold Card holders are explicitly excluded from the state’s taxi subsidy scheme, TasEquip, and Patient Travel Assistance Scheme because DVA provides equivalent federal services.

How to address the electricity concession gap

If you hold a standard Gold Card without a PCC and are not getting the electricity concession, contact DVA on 1800 838 372 and ask whether you qualify for a DVA PCC based on your pension type. Many veterans receiving a service pension or Disability Compensation Payment are entitled to a PCC through DVA but have never applied. Once issued, the PCC unlocks the Tasmanian electricity concession through Aurora Energy.

Frequently asked questions

My Gold Card is embossed TPI. Do I qualify for the electricity concession?

The TPI card does not appear to be listed as a qualifying card for Tasmania’s electricity concession — the PCC and HCC are the required cards. Confirm directly with Aurora Energy (1300 132 245) and with DVA on 1800 838 372.

I have a standard Gold Card and no PCC. What Tasmanian concessions can I access?

Vehicle registration discount ($60.20), TasWater rebate (up to $242.56/year), free ambulance as a Tasmanian resident, DVA federal optical entitlements, and the Veteran Wellbeing Voucher ($200). The electricity concession, most transport concessions, and council rates remission require specific embossing or a PCC.

I moved to Tasmania recently. Do I need to re-register?

Yes. Contact TasWater, your local council, and other providers separately. Also notify DVA to update your Veteran File Number prefix to TAS.