Payments and support if you are in prison or custody
On this page
- Who this page applies to
- Prison Servicing Officer
- What happens to your DVA payments
- Payments for your partner and children
- Making a claim while you’re in custody
- When are income support payments not affected?
- Health care while in custody
- Bereavement payments
- Crisis Payments after release
- Requesting a review of a decision
- Related resources
If you are in prison or custody following a criminal charge, your DVA payments, allowances and cards may be affected. Different rules apply depending on the payment or benefit you receive.
This page explains what may change, how your partner or children may be affected, and the support available while you are in custody and when you are released.
Back to topWho this page applies to
This page covers imprisonment, including custody while waiting for trial or sentencing, and psychiatric confinement following a criminal charge. These circumstances are sometimes referred to as ‘lawful custody’.
What is imprisonment?
You are considered to be in prison if you are:
- lawfully detained in prison or another place while serving a sentence, and you are not on parole or licence
- in custody while waiting for trial or sentencing.
What is psychiatric confinement?
You are in psychiatric confinement if, following a criminal charge, you are confined in a psychiatric section of a hospital or another place where people with psychiatric disabilities are confined.
You are not considered to be in psychiatric confinement while undertaking a course of rehabilitation in a psychiatric institution.
What you need to tell DVA
You have a responsibility to keep us informed of changes that may affect the amount of payment you receive. These responsibilities are described in our letters to you as ‘obligations’.
You are required to tell DVA within 14 days (28 days if you live overseas or receive Remote Area Allowance) of changes to your circumstances that might affect the rate of payment you receive or your eligibility to receive that payment. In relation to imprisonment/confinement you must tell us if:
- you are in custody
- your marital status changes
- the number of your dependent children changes.
Prison Servicing Officer
DVA’s Prison Servicing Officer (PSO) is a DVA employee dedicated to supporting ADF veterans who are in prison. The PSO role is to help prisoners who are ADF veterans, and families, to ensure they can access DVA support and entitlements. The PSO can also help correctional facility staff and community corrections staff provide support to veterans in prison.
A PSO can help to:
- prioritise outstanding claims
- register a veteran with DVA
- request a Veteran Card if you are eligible
- identify and submit claims not yet finalised
- connect veterans and their family to support services such as counselling
- check your current DVA payments
- nominate a custodial representative and complete the consent process
- prepare for release, including arranging for eligible payments to restart
- apply to access eligible treatment with your veteran card whilst in custody
- claim a Crisis Payment when released from prison, if eligible.
The Prison Servicing Officer can be contacted by emailing veterans.in.corrections@dva.gov.au
Veterans in prison information booklet
The Veterans in prison information booklet brings together information about DVA payments, health care, Veteran Cards, claims, release support and how a Prison Servicing Officer can help.
Back to topWhat happens to your DVA payments
Different rules apply depending on the payment or benefit you receive. The tables below explain how custody may affect your payments, allowances, supplements and benefits.
Income support payments and benefits
| If you receive | Then |
|---|---|
(including Rent Assistance and Remote Area Allowance) |
payment after the first day of imprisonment is suspended or forfeited, unless an amount is redirected for your partner or child. Payment is payable again from the day you are released. |
| Pension Supplement | the Pension Supplement is suspended. If you retain a Veteran Card, you may be eligible for Veteran Supplement and Energy Supplement. |
| Energy Supplement paid with Service Pension | the Energy Supplement is suspended. |
|
these may be affected. See the relevant sections of this page. |
| An entitlement for a period before lawful custody | the entitlement is not affected. |
Disability compensation payments and allowances
| If you receive | Then |
|---|---|
|
these are likely to be suspended or forfeited if you cannot continue to meet the eligibility conditions. You will be notified of any change to payment. |
| Veteran Supplement and Energy Supplement for all underlying payments except Service Pension | the supplements are not affected by lawful custody. |
| MRCA incapacity payments, including an amount converted to a lump sum under section 139 |
payments are not payable for any week you are imprisoned in connection with a conviction. They are not stopped while you are on remand. If you are later convicted and the sentence is backdated, payments may stop from the start of the sentence and an overpayment may arise. Payments may restart after release if liability for your incapacity for work continues. |
| Special Rate Disability Pension under the MRCA | the pension is not payable for a period you are imprisoned in connection with an offence. |
|
these will not be affected while you are imprisoned if eligibility criteria continues to be met. |
|
these payments are not affected. |
For further information about how custody affects payments, refer to the Veterans in prison information booklet or contact a Prison Servicing Officer.
Back to topPayments for your partner and children
Your income support payment will be suspended or forfeited while you are in custody unless it is redirected to an eligible person. Your income support payment may be redirected to one of the following:
- your partner
- your child
- another person, provided the payment is used for the benefit of your partner or child.
The following table outlines what may happen to your income support payment if redirected.
| Your circumstances | What may happen |
|---|---|
| Your partner receives a Service Pension, Income Support Supplement or Veteran Payment from DVA | Part of your payment may be redirected to your partner, or to another person for your partner’s benefit. Your partner may receive their own payment and part of yours, but the combined amount cannot be more than the single rate of that payment. |
| You have a dependent child and no amount of your payment is redirected to your partner | Part of your payment may be redirected to another person to support the child, provided the child is not placed in a State Authority. |
| Your partner receives a Social Security Age Pension from DVA | Part of your payment may be redirected to your partner, or to another person for your partner’s benefit, for up to 13 weeks. The combined fortnightly amount cannot be more than the single rate of payment. |
Lawful custody does not affect the way DVA assesses your relationship status. You and your partner are still regarded as a couple for payment assessment purposes unless you have separated.
If you or your partner are in lawful custody and either of you are receiving a payment from Services Australia, you should contact Services Australia directly.
Back to topMaking a claim while you’re in custody
You can lodge an income support or compensation claim while you are in custody. DVA can also continue to assess a claim you lodged before entering custody however, some payments may not be payable until you are released.
Your lawful custody does not prevent your partner from qualifying for a Service Pension, Income Support Supplement or Veteran Payment in their own right.
Back to topWhen are income support payments not affected?
Your Service Pension, Social Security Age Pension, Income Support Supplement or Veteran Payment will not be affected by lawful custody if any of the following apply:
- your sentence is suspended
- you are undertaking a community service order
- you are undergoing home detention
- you are on parole
- you are in a psychiatric institution undertaking a course of rehabilitation.
If you are confined in a psychiatric institution because you have been charged with an offence, payment can only continue if you are undertaking a course of rehabilitation. A course of rehabilitation is defined as a specifically planned series of activities including medical or other treatments directed towards improving your wellbeing. The course of rehabilitation must be structured in such a way that it could lead to a release from confinement.
Back to topHealth care while in custody
Health care is generally provided by the facility while you are in custody.
In some circumstances, DVA may approve treatment outside the correctional facility. This can only occur if all of the following conditions are met:
- prior approval being obtained from both DVA and the correctional facility
- all costs incidental to the provision of the treatment, in particular the cost of security escorts are met separately (are not covered by DVA)
- the service provided must be medically necessary
- the correctional facility being satisfied that DVA-funded treatment would not interfere with the correctional facility management functions
- the health provider must be willing to provide the service and accept the relevant DVA fee for the service.
What happens to your Veteran Card
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| Veteran Card - Specific Conditions | The card is not affected. |
| Veteran Card - All Conditions | The card is generally not affected. If your eligibility comes from your Service Pension, you may lose eligibility when the payment is suspended unless DVA decides you remain eligible. |
The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is not affected by lawful custody.
What happens to your Pensioner Concession Card (PCC)
The Pensioner Concession Card may be affected if you are in lawful custody. If your income support payment is not redirected, you are not entitled to the benefits of the PCC while your payment is suspended.
If your partner already holds a PCC with details of children, those children are eligible for any medical or pharmaceutical concessions available with that card.
Your PCC cannot be redirected to a partner. Your partner needs to qualify for a payment from DVA or Services Australia in their own right to be issued with a PCC.
Back to topBereavement payments
If you receive income support bereavement payments and are subsequently in lawful custody, the bereavement payment may be redirected in the same way as the income support payment for the duration of the bereavement period.
If your income support payments are not redirected, then you are not entitled to bereavement payments in respect of an income support payment.
If you die while in lawful custody and your payments are being redirected to your partner or child, a bereavement payment may still be payable.
Back to topCrisis Payments after release
A Crisis Payment is immediate financial assistance that can be paid to people released from lawful custody where the custody has been 14 days or more.
You must be eligible for an income support payment. Veteran Payment recipients are not eligible for a Crisis Payment.
The payment is a one-off, non-taxable, non-refundable payment, designed to assist in establishing a new residence. A Crisis Payment is payable in addition to a regular payment.
To claim a Crisis Payment, you will need to complete the Form D0567 Application for Crisis Payment – Prison/Hospital Release. You must lodge the completed form with DVA, or make an informal claim, within 7 days of release from lawful custody.
Back to topRequesting a review of a decision
If you disagree with a decision to suspend your payment or benefit you can request a review. If you decide to apply for a review, you must do so within 3 months of receiving the letter notifying you of our decision. Your request for a review must set out in writing your reasons for seeking a review.
If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the Review Officer’s decision, you may apply in writing to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a review of that decision. Your application should set out the reasons for your appeal and should be lodged with the Tribunal within 3 months of the date you receive the Review Officer’s decision.
Back to topRelated resources
- D0567 Application for Crisis Payment – Prison/Hospital Release
- Veterans in prison information booklet