The key eligibility criteria and supports available under the Defence, Veterans’ and Families’ Acute Support Package (the Package) are prescribed in:
Legislative instruments made under each Act contain additional eligibility criteria, specify financial and time limits for a family accessing support under these arrangements, and detail the types and limits of support:
The purpose of the Package is to assist working age veteran families to adjust to new and challenging life circumstances, and to improve their wellbeing and functioning over the longer-term.
A delegate of the Commission will determine a person’s eligibility for the Package as set out in each Act – the MRCA, DRCA and VEA – and each relevant legislative instrument. The decision will be documented and reasons will be provided to the applicant where they are deemed not eligible. There is no requirement for an application or claim form to be completed by the individual, but recipients may be asked to confirm any information they provide to DVA – for example, through discussions with a Case Manager – to assist DVA in assessing their circumstances and determining eligibility.
To be eligible to receive support under the Package a widowed partner of a veteran must be:
To be eligible, there needs to be a connection established between a veteran’s suicide and their service in the Australian Defence Force. This means a death determination must be made before establishing eligibility.
Where a veteran has rendered warlike service under the MRCA and has died by suicide, for ASP eligibility purposes the death is considered related to service until the time a formal determination is made. This allows eligibility to be determined without the need for the Commission to establish conclusively that the deceased member’s death was a suicide related to service. A formal death determination overrules any previous decisions made by an ASP delegate. This may mean that families currently in receipt of a Package may lose their access.
Confirmation of death should be evidenced by a death certificate, police report or hospital report. However, if the partner is experiencing difficulties obtaining formal documentation in a timely manner and is in urgent need of support, a signed statutory declaration may be considered sufficient to satisfy the eligibility criteria.
‘At the time eligibility is determined’ means when the person is assessed for eligibility for the Package and a decision made regarding their eligibility. If a person is 64 and a half when their eligibility is determined, they meet the age requirement. When they turn 65 six months later, they remain eligible for the Package until their time limit on the program ends. Support is not ceased when the individual turned 65 years old.
Yes. New circumstances that mean a person meets the eligibility criteria is sufficient. A person is not necessarily excluded from receiving support under the Package because they have in the past accessed it under different eligibility provisions. If a family member becomes a widow(er) and they meet other eligibility requirements for widowed partners, they would be able to receive support through those provisions of the Package. DVA would not need to determine they are in crisis, as the death of their partner constitutes crisis.
For example, Suzi received support through the Package for the family two years ago, while her veteran partner Jon was alive. Jon died by suicide and it was determined to be related to his service. Suzi (now age 55) is eligible for the Package as a widowed partner.
In most cases, where a widowed partner has received support through the Acute Support Package or the predecessor program, the Family Support Package, the veteran’s death will have been more than two years ago, so they will not meet the eligibility criteria.
However, if a widowed partner re-partners with a veteran (current or former serving member) and they experience a crisis and the veteran meets the eligibility criteria, they may receive support as a family member through the Package. Their circumstances have changed and their eligibility can be assessed anew.
If a widowed partner re-partners with a veteran and that veteran dies (and it is related to their service), they would also be eligible again for support through the Package.
In addition to the veteran eligibility criteria, the person or family must be at risk of or experiencing crisis.
This means they are experiencing new and challenging life circumstances that give rise to a need to support them improve their functioning, wellbeing and/or resilience – their capability to deal with their circumstances.
For a delegate of the Commission to be satisfied that the person or family is experiencing crisis:
Not all families experiencing crisis will necessarily be eligible for, or would benefit from, services available under the Package. The intent of the Package is to provide short-term, intensive support to help families adjust to new and challenging circumstances. Delegates will determine whether a family’s crisis situation satisfies the Package’s intent and eligibility criteria and refer families to other support in the event that the Package is not appropriate for their particular circumstances.
The following situations may be considered crisis circumstances where the functioning of the family may be impacted and would benefit from support, but this is not an exhaustive list:
The following situations would not, in and of themselves, be considered circumstances that make a family eligible:
Family members of living veterans need to be a ‘related person’ in order to access support under the Package. Related persons are defined in each Act.
Related persons are:
One or more related persons of a veteran may receive support under a support plan. For example, the partner and two children of a former member may receive support. These people would have access to services to meet their needs, up to the annual cap. Where the former partner of a veteran is seeking support from DVA due to their circumstances, they are not required to be nominated by the veteran in the veteran’s support plan in order to receive support. A delegate has the discretion to determine they are eligible to receive support without informing the veteran. This ensures the safety and wellbeing of the former partner in circumstances where there is family and domestic violence or other high risk separation circumstances. This means where a veteran has a current family and a former family, both may be able to receive support at the same time if they are eligible. Both families would have access to the full annual cap, it would not be split between them.
There may be circumstances where a veteran nominates their former partner for support, as they may still have a relationship and the former partner and/or the former partner’s child/ren with the veteran require support.
For questions on specific cases seek clarification from family.policy@dva.gov.au [1]
Yes. The age restriction is on the veteran, not the family member. The parent of the veteran who has a significant portion of care of the veteran’s children can receive support through the Package.
A former partner is someone who was in a partner relationship with a member or former member before separating. That includes de-facto and married. A former partner does not have to be divorced from the veteran. The separation must be less than 12 months ago for the partner to be eligible, unless they are parenting the child of the veteran. Evidence of the separation may be required to determine eligibility.
Someone parenting the child of a veteran under the Package is as per section 61B of the Family Law Act. Parental responsibilities in relation to a child [2], means all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, parents [3] have in relation to children [2].
Proof of parenting arrangements may be required to determine this in some cases and could include court orders, out of court settlements/agreements, child support agency documents/agreements, Services Australia documents or statutory declarations.
No. The veteran must be under 65 years old to access support through the Package. Veterans who care for their grandchildren may access support through Services Australia as this is a situation that affects many Australians.
Grandparent carers may get Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B if they care for a child at least 35% of the time. Services Australia provides information on support for grandparent carers on their website Support for grandparent carers - Family Tax Benefit - Services Australia [4]
Veterans who have 65% or more care of their grandchildren may be eligible for the Child Care Subsidy to support the cost of child care. The Grandparent additional child care subsidy - Additional Child Care Subsidy - Services Australia [5]
Carers of vulnerable children may also be eligible for the Child Wellbeing Subsidy The Child Wellbeing subsidy - Additional Child Care Subsidy - Services Australia [6]
Services Australia have advisors who help grandparents understand what help they can get Grandparent Advisers - Services Australia [7]. They can be contacted on 1800 245 965.
No. Partners and former partners can contact DVA directly to ask about eligibility for and receive support through the Package. Their partner will not and should not be informed. Care needs to be taken to ensure the privacy and safety of the person.
DVA is not a crisis support. In an emergency call 000.
If a person has experienced family and domestic violence they are likely to be experiencing significant trauma that is impacting their – and their family’s – ability to function well. Support through this Package would be appropriate after the initial crisis has passed.
Open Arms may provide crisis accommodation support. 1800 RESPECT can provide information on services in your area. Centrelink can also provide financial support.
Yes. Although both family units are connected to the veteran, they are two distinct family units and can both access the Package at the same time, if they meet the eligibility requirements. They would each be eligible for the full annual cap.
The former partner would have to have separated from the veteran no more than 12 months ago, or be parenting the veteran’s child or children (under 18 years old) AND be considered in crisis or at risk of crisis – experiencing new and challenging life circumstances that give rise to a need to support the family unit.
Where there are shared care arrangements of children across the two family units, care will need to be taken to ensure services for the children are not double funded. Consideration will need to be given to careful communication that does not breach individuals’ privacy.
Information held by DVA should be used in the first instance to check a veteran and their family’s circumstances for the purpose of establishing eligibility. For example, use of DVA’s systems to check a veteran’s payments and therefore inform eligibility.
Where a family has a report from a medical practitioner such as a psychologist, this can be used to inform the services provided under the Package. Families are not required, however, to get medical evidence before support is provided.
Where there is a report of family and domestic violence, a statutory declaration is sufficient evidence for eligibility. Where a person has other evidence such as a court order, an apprehended violence order (or similar Order under the respective jurisdiction), a police report or evidence from a crisis service provider, these can all be used as evidence. It is critical for survivors of family and domestic violence that they are believed and are not required to provide onerous amounts of evidence to access support.
Other documentation such as school reports for children or communications with teachers may be useful in understanding a person’s or family’s needs and inform the services provided. These are not required before support is provided.
A veteran may be eligible to access support under a Package if:
A veteran and veteran family member may be eligible to access services:
14.3.4 Grandparents, providing full-time care for children of veterans
A grandparent, parenting the child of a veteran, may include a parent or step parent of the veteran, or parent or step-parent of the veteran’s partner or former partner.
A grandparent, parenting the child of a deceased veteran and who is providing full-time care for a child of a veteran, may be eligible to receive support under a Package; if:
A grandparent parenting the child of a deceased veteran may be eligible to access funded services for a total of 24 months (continuous) including:
A grandparent, parenting the child of an incapacitated veteran may be eligible to receive support under a Package; if:
Grandparents, parenting the child of an incapacitated veteran may be eligible to access services to the same limits of current veteran families:
Links
[1] mailto:family.policy@dva.gov.au
[2] http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s4.html#child?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=parent
[3] http://classic.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s4.html#parent
[4] https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/support-for-grandparent-carers?context=22151
[5] https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/grandparent-additional-child-care-subsidy?context=41866
[6] https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-wellbeing-subsidy?context=41866
[7] https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/grandparent-advisers