There may be claims for compensation received in DVA offices which relate to former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) or current and former members of the Reserves who are now employed by DVA.

In the rehabilitation context, these may include for example, claims for household services, attendant care services, requests for assistance under any of the motor vehicle assistance schemes, or other activities to be provided under a rehabilitation plan.

There are several circumstances where processing a claim for compensation could give rise to a real or perceived conflict of interest.

These include, but are not limited to:

There are several circumstances where a claimant may be known to a staff member.

These could include, but not be limited to, the following examples:

Claims may be received from family members of DVA staff. All staff should note that they must inform their Assistant Director should such a claim be lodged.

If such a claim is lodged in an office other than that where the DVA staff member works then no further action is required, unless the delegate assigned the claim is known to the claimant. If this happens, the staff member should advise their Assistant Director of a conflict of interest so that the claim can be re-assigned.

Conflict of interest can be defined as “a conflict between the public duties and private interest of a public official, in which the public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities”.

A person's rights and obligations when undertaking rehabilitation are contained in the standard forms titled 'Rehabilitation Rights and Obligations' available through the DVA forms portal. The form will vary depending on the type of rehabilitation program they are participating in.

It is important that a person's rights and obligations are provided to them at the time they are referred for a rehabilitation assessment. 

If staff are in doubt about any actual or perceived conflict of interest, they should consult their Assistant Director and complete the document titled: 'Declaration of interests' disclosure statement, which is then to be placed on the claim file.

Note: The current version of the ‘Declaration of interests’ document is available to DVA staff in TRIM (ref: 13368579E).