Please Note
Legislative changes which commenced on 1 July 2026 have impacted the information contained in this section.
From this date, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA) and the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) were closed to new claims and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) became the single Act providing coverage for veterans, regardless of service.
Claims received prior to 1 July 2026 will continue to be considered under the legislation which the claim was submitted.
However, entitlements from 1 July 2026 may vary depending on when the veteran died, when the claim for death was lodged, whether compensation has already been paid in connection with the veteran’s death and whether certain ‘automatic grant’ categories under the VEA apply.
A wholly dependent partner is entitled to bereavement payments if:
the deceased veteran was, in the week before the week in which he or she died, entitled to or paid one or more of the following payments under the MRCA:
- weekly permanent impairment payments;
- weekly incapacity payments;
- Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP);
- Additional Disablement Amount (ADA)
AND
- the wholly dependent partner has claimed compensation.
An eligible young person (EYP) who was a dependant of the deceased immediately before the death is entitled to bereavement payments if there is no wholly dependent partner and they have submitted a claim for compensation.
Need for a claim
Unlike the VEA, bereavement payments under the MRCA are not automatically paid. The partner (or EYP) must make a claim before payments can be commenced. However, the applicant only needs to show that they were the partner (or dependent EYP) of the deceased and were wholly dependent on that person before the death for bereavement payments to occur. Note the death of the veteran does not need to be accepted as service related for bereavement payments to be payable.
Ensuring that the intention of bereavement payments is fulfilled
While the delegate must be reasonably satisfied that a person is entitled to bereavement payments before making a decision, every effort should be made to fulfil the intention of the legislation by providing ongoing support to the dependants of deceased veterans as soon as possible.
The delegate must be mindful of the circumstances of each claim. In some cases, the delegate may already have evidence that has or can be used to establish the Wholly Dependent Partner or EYP status of any dependants.
If this is the case, the delegate is to contact the person as soon as is practicable, with appropriate consideration to the traumatic time and the nature of evidence available, to encourage the submission of a claim.
How to claim
The Claim for Compensation for Dependants of Deceased Members and Former Members (D2053) is to be used to claim bereavement payments, irrespective of whether the partner or EYP is claiming other forms of death compensation.
In the case of a partner, a claim can also be made in the form of a signed letter from the widow/er stating that the veteran has died. From this point, steps should be taken to establish that he or she was living with the member at the time of death and that he or she was wholly dependent on deceased for economic support at the time of death.
Evidence of financial dependency and that the partner was living with the veteran at the time of their death can be made in the form of a properly completed Statutory Declaration.
A claim can also be made by or on behalf of a child (or children) who was (or were), wholly dependent on the veteran at the time of death if there was no wholly dependent partner at the time. A Statutory Declaration may also be appropriate for this purpose.
What bereavement payments are payable?
A bereavement payment payable to a wholly dependent partner (WDP) or, where applicable, an EYP, is a single one-off payment set by the MRCA. Under MRCA, bereavement payment is paid only after a claim is made. The payment is equal to 12 instalments of the weekly amount of incapacity payment, PI periodic payment, SRDP payment, or ADA payment.
Bereavement payments where there is more than one wholly dependent partner or EYP
If two or more partners (or EYPs) are entitled to compensation under section 242 or 255 of the MRCA, a decision is required to allocate the amount payable between the partners or EYPs. In allocating the bereavement payment, the Delegate must have regard to the dependency of each eligible person on the veteran immediately before death, in accordance with the MRCA.
Quantification and allocation is to be determined by the delegate based on available financial evidence.
Calculating bereavement payments
- Add up the amount of any SRDP, ADA, periodic permanent impairment payments and incapacity payments paid to the deceased or that was payable to the deceased in the week before the week in which they died;
- Multiply the total from step 1 by 12;
- Where appropriate (i.e. where there is more than on eligible person), distribute the total from step 2 between them according to the loss of financial support suffered by the individuals (see above).
Note: Where the incapacity/PI/SRDP/ADA payment has been paid beyond the date of death, resulting in an overpayment, section 425(2) of the MRCA precludes recovery of the overpaid amount from any entitlement to bereavement payments. However, the debt exists and is recoverable against the estate of the deceased member or former member.
Taxation on bereavement payments
The tax status of bereavement payments is identical to the tax status of the payments on which they are based. Thus, PI, SRDP and ADA payments are exempt from taxation for the purposes of calculating bereavement payments, while bereavement payments based on incapacity payments are taxable. Regardless of whether the bereavement payment is based on incapacity payments or not, the WDP or EYP is entitled to 12 times the gross amount of incapacity/PI/SRDP/ADA the deceased member was paid in the week before the member died.
Paying bereavement payments
The bereavement payment is to be paid to the WDP themselves. In the case of an EYP, if they are over the age of 18 the compensation is to be paid to them, otherwise the compensation should be paid to the person that has the responsibility for the daily care of the EYP or a trustee can be appointed.
Section 432 of the MRCA sets out special rules for payment if a trustee is required to be appointed for either a WDP or EYP.
The actual payment of the bereavement payment to the recipient is to be considered in light of the circumstances. For example, if an incapacity compensation recipient dies and their payments were being paid into a joint bank account, there is no requirement to make the WDP provide a solo bank account for the purposes of payment.
When is a bereavement payment not payable?
No bereavement payment is payable:
in respect of lump sum payments of PI or incapacity payments. This is because the primary intention of bereavement payments is to assist the partner to adjust to the new financial situation following the death. This is of course only relevant to on-going payments not to a lump sum that was paid at some time prior to the death
if the member was not entitled to payment during the relevant week because payment was suspended due to non-compliance (for example, for refusal to undertake a rehabilitation program).
Bereavement Payments - Reductions and Recovery
Where the MRCA incapacity/PI/SRDP/ADA payment has been paid beyond the date of death, resulting in an overpayment, subsection 425(2) precludes recovery of the overpaid amount from any entitlement to bereavement payments. However, the debt exists and is recoverable against the estate of the deceased member or former member.
For existing overpayments of MRCA or for any existing overpayments under the VEA, DRCA or Social Security Act 1991(SSA), recovery is sought from the Estate. Section 315(2) of the MRCA sets out who an overpayment can be recovered from.
- If an overpayment occurred because of a false or misleading statement, recovery can be pursued from:
- the person who made the statement (the veteran themself), or
- the person on whose behalf the statement was made
- This applies even if that person is not the veteran, as long as their statement caused or contributed to the overpayment.
Please refer to CLIK Compensation & Support Policy Library 8.3 for further information on what DVA overpayments may reduce the amount of Bereavement Payment payable or overpayment amounts that can be recovered from DVA Bereavement Payments.