How the VETS Act Affects You

The VETS Act started on 1 July 2026. The VEA and the DRCA are closed to new claims, and every new claim for compensation or rehabilitation is now determined under an improved MRCA regardless of when you served or when you were injured.

Your existing payments are safe. Almost everything you already receive is grandparented, which means it continues uninterrupted and keeps being indexed.

What changes is what you can claim from here. That depends entirely on which Act your conditions sit under and what you are already receiving, so the rest of this article is organised by situation. Find yours.

Where this came from

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide recommended simplifying and harmonising the veterans' compensation framework in its Interim Report. The Government accepted that recommendation, consulted the veteran community between 2022 and 2024, and passed the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 on 13 February 2025.

Three Acts became one. That is the whole idea.

If you receive a Disability Compensation Payment under the VEA

Your payment continues at the same rate and keeps being indexed. Nothing about it changes.

What changes is how you claim more. There are no more Applications for Increase. If your conditions have worsened, you lodge a claim for MRCA permanent impairment instead, and your accepted VEA conditions come across automatically under section 24A.

Your baseline is the unrounded impairment rating behind your last VEA pension determination. You need to clear it by at least five impairment points before anything is payable.

Two other things worth knowing. Claims relating to tobacco use before 1 January 1998 can now be accepted as service related under the MRCA. And the General Rate component of your Disability Compensation Payment is no longer offset by MRCA incapacity payments.

If you are a TPI veteran

Your Special Rate continues unchanged and is grandparented.

Be realistic about permanent impairment. The Special Rate sits above the MRCA maximum weekly rate, so the compensation ceiling is already reached and a permanent impairment claim will not produce a further payment.

There are still reasons to engage with the new system. You can access MRCA household services, which cover a wider range of assistance than Veterans' Home Care. Your final Disability Compensation Payment instalment is now payable up to the date of your death rather than being cut short. And your partner's automatic war widow or widower pension is unaffected, with an additional MRCA claim available on top if your death is service related.

If you are a DRCA veteran

This is the group that gained the most.

You can access a Gold Card for the first time. DRCA never carried one. If you reach 60 impairment points under GARP M and satisfy the MRCA threshold test, the card is available.

The threshold test is worth reading twice. It is met by either a MRCA accepted condition or a five point worsening. Either one. A veteran who lands at 68 points with only a four point increase still gets the card if they have had a new condition accepted under the MRCA. A veteran at 70 points with a four point increase and no new accepted condition gets nothing.

That difference comes down to whether a fresh liability claim was lodged alongside the permanent impairment claim. If you are anywhere near 60 points, claiming a condition that has never been accepted is the highest value thing you can do, and it works even if the condition adds almost nothing to your rating.

You are also now eligible for the Special Rate Disability Pension, and your children may access the MRCA education scheme.

If you were assessed under the DRCA and several of your conditions came in under the 10 per cent whole person impairment threshold, those conditions were worth nothing at the time. Under whole-of-person assessment they count.

If you receive DRCA incapacity payments

You are the one exception to grandparenting, and it worked in your favour.

DRCA incapacity recipients transitioned automatically to MRCA incapacity payments on 1 July 2026. You did not need to do anything.

Three differences drive the increase. MRCA bases your starting salary on the current pay rate for your rank and pay level rather than your salary at discharge. MRCA does not apply the further 5 per cent reduction for a notional superannuation contribution. And MRCA includes a remuneration loading allowance to compensate for the non-salary benefits you had while serving.

For many veterans the difference is several hundred dollars a fortnight.

If you have only ever been covered by the MRCA

Very little changes for you. You stay under the MRCA and your entitlements continue.

You do pick up some improvements. Travel reimbursement is at the higher MRCA rate with no 50 kilometre round trip minimum. The Additional Disablement Amount becomes available at pension age. Presumptive liability and the medical event on duty provision apply to your future claims.

If you served under the 1971 Act, including National Service

You can now claim under the MRCA for the first time, and for many of you the door was previously shut entirely.

The 1971 Act did not allow permanent impairment compensation for a range of conditions, including mental health conditions. Veterans lived with accepted conditions that were worth nothing.

Compensation received under the Compensation (Commonwealth Government Employees) Act 1971 is expressly excluded from the baseline calculation, so you start from zero. Your whole-of-person assessment is measured against nothing.

If you did National Service, never claimed, or claimed and were told there was no compensation available, this is worth revisiting.

If you are a partner or dependant

The changes here are substantial and the least well publicised.

Automatic grants of the war widow or widower pension continue for the partners of veterans who were receiving a Disability Compensation Payment above the General Rate. The funeral allowance for those automatic grant categories increased to $3,000.

Where a death is service related, reimbursement of funeral expenses up to a maximum of $14,990.43 is available under the MRCA for deaths on or after 1 July 2026, less any amount already paid automatically. This maximum is indexed annually.

Eligible partners can now choose to receive compensation as an age-based lump sum instead of, or alongside, periodic payments. For service-related deaths after 1 July 2026 there is an additional age-based lump sum on top.

Dependants of DRCA veterans can claim death benefits under the MRCA for the first time, which may include a Gold Card and access to the MRCA education scheme. DRCA death benefits never carried treatment or education support.

If a veteran had lodged a permanent impairment claim before they died, that compensation can now be paid to the estate as an age-based lump sum. Previously it stopped at the date of death.

If you are still serving

Two provisions matter to you specifically.

An injury that occurs while you are on duty can be accepted on that basis alone, with no Statement of Principles required. DVA's own examples are heart attacks and strokes.

Injuries arising from treatment provided under Defence health arrangements are also now covered, including treatment for pre-existing conditions and preventative treatment.

What did not change

Income support is untouched. The Service Pension, Veteran Payment, Partner Service Pension, and Income Support Supplement continue under the VEA and are determined the same way.

Veterans with Qualifying Service still receive a Gold Card at age 70.

Existing treatment arrangements for card holders are unchanged.

Changes that apply to everyone

What to actually do about it

If you are already receiving payments and have no new conditions and no worsening, you do not need to do anything. Grandparenting means your position is protected.

If your conditions have worsened, or you have conditions that were never accepted, or you were told years ago that no compensation was available, the position has changed and it is worth a proper look. Our permanent impairment calculator will give you a rough starting point.

Frequently asked questions

Will my payments be reduced or reassessed?

No. Payments being received under the VEA and DRCA before 1 July 2026 are grandparented and continue uninterrupted with normal indexation. The only change is DRCA incapacity payments, which transitioned automatically to the more generous MRCA rates.

Do I need to lodge anything to keep what I have?

No. Grandparenting is automatic and so is the transition of DRCA incapacity payments. You only lodge if you want something new.

Does it matter when I served?

Not anymore. All new claims are determined under the improved MRCA regardless of when you served or when the injury or disease occurred. That includes National Service and service covered by the 1971 Act.

Do my previously accepted conditions carry over?

Yes. Section 24A of the MRCA treats conditions already accepted under the VEA or DRCA as accepted MRCA conditions. You do not re-claim liability.

Will my Service Pension change?

No. Income support payments including the Service Pension, Veteran Payment, Partner Service Pension, and Income Support Supplement continue to be determined under the VEA.

I was rejected years ago. Is it worth trying again?

Often yes, particularly if your claim failed on a SoP factor that has since been widened, if you served under the 1971 Act, or if you are a DRCA veteran whose conditions fell under the old 10 per cent threshold.

Work out what changed for you specifically

The VETS Act affects a National Serviceman who never claimed completely differently to a TPI veteran or a DRCA veteran with a large payment history. We work out which situation you are in and what is actually available.