Veterans lodging claims under either the DRCA or the MRCA for a mental health condition can be considered for the veteran payment (VP). There are a number of other eligibility conditions for the VP, including:
Details of these requirements are located in the CLIK Compensation and Support Policy Library Part 3 [1].
Applicants will be asked to complete a D9333 Veteran Payment details form [2] which collects necessary information regarding income, assets, partner and tax file numbers.
Once approved, payment of VP has a start date two weeks prior to lodgement of the claim, and payment can continue for up to six weeks after a determination on liability for the relevant condition, or if a number of mental health claims have been lodged, the date the last mental health claim has been determined.
Partners of veterans may also be eligible to receive a VP, however only the primary person, as described in the Veterans’ Entitlements (Veteran Payment) Instrument 2018 No. R40 [3] is eligible for a rehabilitation program. If the partner in receipt of VP is also a veteran who has lodged a claim for a mental health condition, then they will be assessed for participation in their own rehabilitation plan.
Where a person’s circumstances change and they no longer meet the eligibility criteria for Veteran Payment (VP), eligibility to access rehabilitation will also change. The 3.12.1 Legislative authority [4] requires the client to be in receipt of VP to access rehabilitation unless they meet other eligibility criteria, for example if they already have a claim accepted which may meet the requirements set out in CLIK: Identifying Rehabilitation Clients [5].
Situations which may cause a client to lose VP eligibility might include when a client:
Where VP eligibility ceases, some of the clients options may include;
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/compensation-and-support-policy-library/part-3a-veteran-payment/eligibility-requirements-veteran-payment
[2] https://www.dva.gov.au/get-support/find-forms
[3] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00477
[4] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/3-rehabilitation-process/312-veterans-payment/3121-legislative-authority
[5] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/3-rehabilitation-process/33-rehabilitation-referral-process/331-identifying-rehabilitation-clients