The DRCA

On 1 July 2026, the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 and Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence- related claims) Act 1988 closed to new claims for rehabilitation and compensation. All new claims are considered under an improved Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

The Act

The DRCA provided rehabilitation and compensation for injuries and diseases caused by:

• peacetime and peacekeeping service up to and including 30 June 2004
• operational service between 7 April 1994 and 30 June 2004.

The rehabilitation and compensation you could get under the DRCA was similar to that available under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).

Read more at our Overview of the DRCA page.

Permanent impairment compensation

We pay permanent impairment compensation as a lump sum. It is for the functional loss from injuries or diseases accepted as related to your DRCA service. We assess it as a percentage of whole person impairment. We also pay non-economic loss (NEL) compensation for lifestyle effects. To do this, we use the Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment 2023 (DRCA PI Guide). 

Where we assess your impairment at 80 percent or more because of a single injury or disease caused by DRCA service, you may be eligible to get an additional amount. This is known as the Severe Injury Adjustment (SIA). The SIA amount increases for every dependent child you have.

Read more about Support under the DRCA.

Incapacity payments

From 1 July 2026, all new claims for incapacity payments are assessed under the MRCA. All veterans can claim under the MRCA, even if their condition/s were accepted under the VEA or the DRCA.

If you were receiving incapacity payments under the DRCA on 30 June 2026, your payments have transitioned to MRCA payments. You do not need to re-claim incapacity payments (unless your payments have already ceased and you need to reapply).

We pay incapacity payments fortnightly. It is compensation for economic loss. These payments are usually taxable because they replace lost income and so for tax purposes, they are treated as income. In some cases, they are exempt from taxation if the payments they are replacing were also exempt from taxation.

Incapacity payments are also offset (reduced) by the employer funded portion of any Commonwealth superannuation you may get.

Read more about How we calculate incapacity payments.

Compensation following death

The DRCA provides compensation to dependants of veterans who have died. This is paid as a lump sum. Dependants can get the lump sum if the veteran died because of military service covered by the DRCA. Dependants include the veteran’s:

• partner
• children if they are under 16
• children if they are under 25, studying full time and don’t have a full-time job.

Partners of veterans who died after 10 June 1997 can get an extra amount called an ‘additional death benefit’. This is also paid as a lump sum. The partner can get this benefit for themselves and one for each of the veteran’s dependent children in their care. To be seen as being in the partner’s care, the dependent child must be under 18. Dependent children 18 or over get their additional death benefit paid directly to them.

Anyone who gets an additional death benefit can also get reimbursed for the cost of any financial advice they got about this benefit. Dependent children, also called prescribed children, of a veteran who has died can also get a weekly compensation payment.

From 1 July 2026 all dependant claims following the death of a veteran will be assessed and paid under the MRCA. This includes cases where the veteran died prior to 1 July 2026 but the claim for benefits is lodged after 1 July 2026. Benefits may include access to the Veteran Card – All Conditions for treatment, and access to education and training for eligible dependants.

If you have already received DRCA death compensation, this will not be affected. Any dependant who has already received death compensation under the DRCA will not be eligible for additional benefits under MRCA. For example, a DRCA widow who has already received DRCA compensation will not be able to claim again after 1 July 2026 – and they will not be eligible to receive a Veteran Card – All Conditions.

If your claim has previously been rejected under the DRCA and you didn’t receive any compensation, you may be able to reapply under the MRCA.

Other benefits

The DRCA also provides other benefits including:

• essential home, workplace and vehicle modifications
• aids and appliances and their repair or replacement.