Aged care for veterans and war widows: what DVA adds

Same front door, extra support from DVA

There is no separate aged care system for veterans. Veterans, war widows and war widowers use the same entry point as other older Australians: My Aged Care (the Australian Government's aged care service, 1800 200 422). An aged care needs assessment through My Aged Care is needed for Support at Home, the Commonwealth Home Support Program, residential respite and a permanent place in an aged care home. See how to register with My Aged Care and the aged care assessment.

What is different is the second layer. DVA funds its own programs for eligible Veteran Card holders, including Veterans' Home Care, Community Nursing, respite, and aids and equipment, and it keeps paying for treatment the card covers. DVA says its programs are not restricted by age.

DVA services and mainstream aged care can run side by side, as long as they do not overlap. If DVA-funded cleaning fully meets the assessed need, more cleaning cannot also come from another program; if DVA services only partly meet the need, My Aged Care can arrange an assessment for more help. The Aged Care Act 2024, which started on 1 November 2025, did not change DVA's care programs.

For anything DVA-specific, DVA says the first point of contact is its Veterans' Access Network, by phone, by email or at an office. The details are on the DVA contact page.

Source: DVA: help accessing aged care services

Which Veteran Card, and what it covers

DVA issues three Veteran Cards. Many people still call them by their colours:

From 1 July 2026, DVA considers all new compensation claims under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. DVA says this does not change card entitlements or how treatment is provided.

The card type decides which DVA aged care programs a person can use. Veterans' Home Care is open to All Conditions and Specific Conditions card holders. Community Nursing covers All Conditions card holders, and Specific Conditions card holders for their accepted conditions.

Source: DVA: Veteran Card

Help at home: Veterans' Home Care and Community Nursing

Veterans' Home Care

Veterans' Home Care (VHC) provides a small amount of practical help so a card holder can keep living independently at home. DVA says it is not designed for complex or high-level needs.

• Who: holders of a Veteran Card (All Conditions), or a Veteran Card (Specific Conditions) or Non-Liability Health Care, who live at home and have difficulty with daily activities.
• What: domestic assistance (cleaning, washing, shopping from a list, meal preparation, paying bills), personal care (as a guide, up to an hour and a half a week), respite, and home and garden maintenance (up to 15 hours in 12 months).
• Cost: a small hourly co-payment, with weekly caps for domestic help and personal care and a yearly cap for home and garden maintenance. Respite has no co-payment, and a waiver can be requested if the co-payment is unaffordable.
• How: a VHC assessment agency assesses needs by phone, sends a care plan naming the service provider, and reassesses every 6 months.

The current co-payment amounts and the assessment agency's phone number are on the DVA Veterans' Home Care page.

Community Nursing

DVA Community Nursing funds clinically required nursing and personal care at home, such as help with medication, wound care, showering, dressing and palliative care, at no cost to eligible clients. It needs a written referral from a GP, a treating hospital doctor, a hospital discharge planner or a nurse practitioner.

Source: DVA: Veterans' Home Care (VHC)

Using DVA help alongside Support at Home

As needs grow, veterans can also use the mainstream programs after an aged care needs assessment through My Aged Care: Support at Home, which replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025, and the Commonwealth Home Support Program for lower-level help. My Aged Care gives an example of how they combine: low-level domestic help and personal care through Veterans' Home Care, with community transport and meals through the Commonwealth Home Support Program.

Support at Home contributions depend on the type of service and the person's pension status (as at 1 October 2026):

• Clinical supports, such as nursing: Nil for everyone. From 1 October 2026 this includes personal care.
• Independence, such as transport and social support: Full pensioners 5%; part pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders 5% to 50%; self-funded retirees 50%.
• Everyday living, such as cleaning and gardening: Full pensioners 17.5%; part pensioners and card holders 17.5% to 80%; self-funded retirees 80%.

DVA does the Support at Home income and assets assessment for people on a DVA income support pension (form SA456); Services Australia does it for everyone else.

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) has been extended to 30 June 2029 and will stay a separate program rather than merging into Support at Home (announced August 2026).

See Support at Home levels and budgets and the Commonwealth Home Support Program for more.

Source: DVA: other in-home aged care programs

Respite for veterans and their carers

DVA funds respite for Gold Card and White Card holders who have a carer, or who are carers themselves. There are three kinds: in-home respite (another carer comes in), residential respite (a short stay, usually in a government-funded aged care home), and emergency short-term home relief when a carer is suddenly unable to care.

Within these limits there is no cost to the veteran. If more residential respite is needed, My Aged Care can arrange extra days, up to the general limit of 63 days a financial year, but the basic daily fee is then payable ($68.93 a day as at 20 September 2026). For former prisoners of war and Victoria Cross recipients, DVA pays the basic daily fee for up to 63 days. DVA does not cover booking fees or higher everyday living fees.

To arrange residential respite, get an aged care needs assessment through My Aged Care, find a government-funded aged care home that can take the person on the dates needed, then contact the VHC assessment agency so DVA can pay. For emergency respite outside business hours, call Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737. See respite care for more.

If one member of a couple on a DVA service pension or age pension goes into residential respite for 14 days or more in a row, both may be entitled to the higher single rate as an illness-separated couple. DVA asks to be told within 3 months of the respite starting.

Source: DVA: respite care

Moving into an aged care home: fees and the means assessment

Veterans and war widows pay the same aged care home fees as other Australians, set by a means assessment of income and assets. For people entering care from 1 November 2025 these are:

• the basic daily fee, which everyone pays: $68.93 a day (as at 20 September 2026)
• a hotelling contribution of up to $22.15 a day and a non-clinical care contribution of up to $109.45 a day, depending on means
• the room: a refundable lump sum, a daily payment or a mix, or a means-tested contribution with government help for people with lower means.

People who were in permanent care on or before 31 October 2025 keep their older fee arrangements (see what aged care costs). Under the "no worse off" rules, people approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024 also keep the older care fee arrangements if they move into a home later, although the new room payment rules still apply to them.

Who does the means assessment

• DVA does it for veterans, partners and war widows on a DVA service pension, income support supplement or age pension paid by DVA; for veterans on the Disability Compensation Payment who have qualifying service; and for war widows on a war widow's pension with the income support supplement.
• Services Australia does it for all other DVA clients, for example veterans without qualifying service, and war widows not paid an income support pension by DVA.

DVA clients use the same SA457 or SA485 forms as everyone else, sent to DVA by email or post, ideally before moving in. People on a DVA income support payment who do not own a home can update their details by phone and ask DVA for the assessment. Services Australia then works out the fees and writes to the person, their nominee and the home.

Prisoners of war and Victoria Cross recipients

DVA has special financial arrangements for former prisoners of war and Victoria Cross recipients and pays some aged care fees for them, although some fees may still be theirs to pay. Tell the aged care home about this status, and confirm with DVA which fees it covers under the rules that apply from 1 November 2025.

What happens to DVA payments

DVA says Disability Compensation Payments and income support payments continue after a move into an aged care home, except Rent Assistance. Couples on a DVA income support payment may be paid at the higher illness-separated rate once one or both move in permanently, even if they move in together, so DVA asks to be told on the day of the move. See aged care and the Age Pension.

Source: DVA: residential aged care means testing

DVA support inside an aged care home

Moving into an aged care home does not end DVA support. Depending on the card, DVA keeps funding:

• Medical care: All Conditions card holders can use the card for all medical appointments and hospital admission, and Specific Conditions card holders for their accepted conditions. The person can keep seeing their own GP and specialists if they are still local.
• Aids and equipment: customised items through the Rehabilitation Appliances Program, beyond the standard equipment the home must provide.
• Hearing, medicines and wound care: hearing devices through the Hearing Services Program and DVA, and the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which can cover more items than the standard PBS.
• Dental and optical: clinically required dental care, and for residents over 65, an optometrist or ophthalmologist appointment each year and glasses within DVA limits.
• Allied health: extra services where there is a clinical need beyond what the home provides.
• Travel for treatment: transport to appointments the card covers, which the home can arrange with DVA.

The Veterans' Supplement

The Veterans' Supplement is extra funding paid to the aged care home, not to the veteran, for each day it cares for a veteran with a mental health condition that DVA has accepted as related to service, so that the condition is not a barrier to the right care. There is nothing to apply for: it is paid once the veteran (or their representative) agrees to DVA releasing basic eligibility details, such as name and file number, to Services Australia and the home. Details of the condition are not shared. War widows and dependants are not eligible.

DVA suggests asking the home to record in the care plan that the person is a veteran or war widow, the DVA services and equipment they use, and any mental health conditions.

Source: DVA: accessing DVA supports and services in aged care

Rights, choosing a home, and where to get help

The Aged Care Act 2024 includes a Statement of Rights, which replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights on 1 November 2025. It covers the right to make your own decisions and be supported to make them, to feel safe and respected, to have your culture and identity respected, and to stay connected with your community. DVA notes the new Act also focuses on safety and trauma-aware care for veterans. See the Statement of Rights.

When choosing a home, My Aged Care suggests asking how it supports veterans: how many veterans live there, whether Anzac Day and other commemorations are marked, and whether the person's service history can go into their care plan. Its Find a provider tool can filter for homes with verified specialised care for veterans.

Where to get help:

• My Aged Care (1800 200 422): assessments and finding services.
• DVA's Veterans' Access Network: the first point of contact for DVA services. Phone, email and office details are on the DVA contact page.
• Open Arms, Veterans and Families Counselling: confidential counselling for veterans and their families, 24 hours a day, at no cost. See the Open Arms contact page.
• Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN): free, independent advocacy on the Aged Care Advocacy Line, 1800 700 600.
• Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission: complaints on 1800 951 822. See advocacy and complaints.
• Services Australia Financial Information Service: free information about money matters on 132 300.
• Dementia Australia: the National Dementia Helpline, 1800 100 500, 24 hours a day.

In an emergency, call 000.

Source: DVA: the Aged Care Act 2024