The CSHC is intended to assist those retirees and other eligible veterans, war widow(er)s and their partners of pension age who fail to qualify for an income support pension from DVA or a pension or benefit from Centrelink. The card entitles the holder to pharmaceuticals listed on the PBS at a concessional rate and seniors supplement.

Seniors supplement was paid to Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) and eligible Gold Card holders until it ceased on 26 June 2015. It was paid quarterly and commenced on 20 September 2009, replacing the seniors concession allowance and telephone allowance.

The Repatriation Health Card - For All Conditions is gold in colour and frequently referred to simply as the “Gold Card”.  The card entitles its holder to obtain health care and related services for all the person's identified health care needs, whether they are war-caused or not.

For the purposes of Part VI of the VEA, a reference to a veteran is taken to be a reference to:

• a veteran as defined in subsection 5C(1) of the VEA;
• a member of the Forces as defined in subsection 68(1) of the VEA; or
• a member of a Peacekeeping Force as defined in subsection 68(1) of the VEA.

For the purposes of Part VII of the VEA, according to subsection 5C(1), veteran means a person (including a deceased person):

• who is taken to have rendered eligible war service, or
• in respect of whom a pension is, or pensions are, payable under subsection 13(6) and
• in Part III and Part VIIC of the VEA includes a person who is:

• a Commonwealth veteran, or
• an allied veteran, or
• an allied mariner.

Currently, the pension age for a veteran is 60 years of age (VEA 5QA).

The pension age for a non-veteran is determined by the table below:

The Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Centrelink is a Government service delivery agency responsible for delivering a range of Commonwealth Government services (including social security pensions and allowances) to the Australian community through a network of more than 400 Centrelink offices.