Education schemes

The Education Schemes helps eligible children achieve their full potential in full-time education or career training including through financial assistance, providing extra support where required such as special assistance and additional tuition. 

Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 (VETS Act) Changes

Prior to 1 July 2026, there were two Education Schemes, the MRCAETS for eligible dependants of Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) veterans and the Veterans’ Children Education Scheme (VCES) for eligible dependants of Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) veterans.

As of 1 July 2026, there is only one Education Scheme available to eligible children, the MRCAETS. VCES eligibility criteria was incorporated into the MRCAETS. All children who were accessing the VCES prior to 1 July 2026 were automatically transferred to the MRCAETS.

Access to the MRCAETS was extended to eligible children of Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA) veterans subject to meeting the necessary requirements under the MRCA.

A child of a DRCA veteran may be eligible for MRCAETS if the veteran becomes eligible for the Special Rate Disability Pension, becomes eligible for the Additional Disablement Amount, or has been assessed as having 80 or more impairment points under the MRCA.

DRCA veterans without a new condition accepted under the MRCA require a 5 point increase from their baseline impairment. 

Eligibility criteria

The MRCAETS is established under the MRCA. There are a number of eligibility pathways to access the Education Scheme depending on the veteran’s underlying eligibility, which are set out below. Eligibility pathways for the MRCAETS are as follows: 

Mutually Exclusive Payments

A student who is eligible for the Education Scheme but receives another Commonwealth payment instead, such as an income support payment from Services Australia, may still receive some of the other Education Scheme benefits.

Education Scheme Benefits

A student may be eligible for the following benefits provided under the Education Scheme:

• education allowance;
• special assistance;
• fares allowance;
• rent assistance;
• additional tuition;
• guidance and counselling;
• tertiary student start-up and relocation scholarships;
• energy supplement;
• income support bonus.

All supports and allowances, such as special assistance, additional tuition, fares allowance and rent assistance are only available to students already deemed eligible for the Education Scheme.

Please contact the Education Scheme team to discuss eligibility. 

Education allowance

Education allowances are paid under the MRCAETS as compensation and are designed to provide financial assistance towards the cost of a student’s education. Students receive an education allowance with rates varying based on their level of schooling and living situation.

Education allowance is not subject to a student or parental income or assets test.

Primary Students

Primary students receive an annual education allowance from their first year of primary schooling. This is usually paid to the person who receives Family Tax Benefit for the student.

Secondary and Tertiary Students

Secondary and tertiary students receive a fortnightly education allowance, with rates based on their living situation:

• Living at home rate – for students who live in the family home
• Living away from home rate – for students who need to live away from home to study
• Homeless rate – for students who are unable to live in the family home and are not receiving support from their parents
• Double Orphan rate – for students who are VEA Double Orphans

The education allowance for secondary students under 16 is usually paid to the person who is entitled to be paid Family Tax Benefit (FTB). Once the student turns 16, the person entitled to FTB can choose to have the payment go directly to the student.

Payments are made directly to tertiary students (including TAFE students, apprentices and trainees). 

Education allowance for parents who share care of a student

Usually for primary and secondary students, DVA pays the education allowance to the person who is entitled to be paid Family Tax Benefit (FTB) on the student’s behalf.

If you are separated and share the care of your child with their other parent, DVA is required to pay the education allowance to each parent according to the shared care percentages used by Services Australia for FTB purposes.

Current rates

For the current payment rates, please refer to the below page:

• MRCAETS rates - Compensation payment rates for MRCA

Education allowance and tax

Education allowance is tax exempt up until the student turns 16. Once a student turns 16 years, education allowance is considered the taxable income of the student, except where the allowances are paid because of the death of a veteran. 

The Education Scheme team can help you with any questions you may have about taxation of education allowances for students aged 16 years and over. Their email address is educationschemes@dva.gov.au 

Alternatively, you may prefer to contact the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) by phone on 13 28 61 or visit the ATO website.

Education allowance and Family Tax Benefit

For children under 16, families can receive both Family Tax Benefit (FTB) from Services Australia and education allowance from DVA. However, once a child turns 16 families cannot receive both and will need to choose whether to claim FTB or receive the education allowance.

For more information on FTB, you can visit the Services Australia website. The website provides estimators to see what assistance your family may be entitled to and the rate of FTB you may receive. Once your child turns 16, it is important to check whether FTB or education allowance will be the better option for your family.

If you choose to receive FTB, you child may still be able to access some additional benefits of the Scheme such as additional tuition and special assistance. If your child goes on to tertiary study, they should contact DVA about returning to the Education Scheme.

Other Education Scheme benefits

Special Assistance

Special assistance is for times when exceptional circumstances affect your child's educational progress. Generally. exceptional circumstances mean challenges or hardships.

Hardships can be temporary or longer-term, but must, at the time of application, be impacting the student. Some examples of hardships include (but are not limited to) disability, learning difficulties, natural disaster, family disruption or unexpected life changes.

Common examples of assistance that may be funded include: 

• Speech therapy classes
• Occupational therapy
• Cognitive or neurodivergent assessments
• Educational psychological assessments or psychology sessions
• Assistive technology or software

Special assistance is generally paid to a service provider or a supplier of equipment, with up to $3,000 available in a year. 

You can apply for special assistance by completing the below form and emailing it to educationschemes@dva.gov.au. 

In order to claim you will need to explain the circumstances and their impact on your child’s educational progress. The claim will also need to be supported by evidence from a suitably qualified professional and quotes for the services or equipment.

Please contact the Education Scheme team to discuss your eligibility.

Additional tuition

If your child needs extra help with their studies, DVA can approve additional tuition. Additional tuition is short-term assistance which helps students catch-up when their usual performance has been impacted by circumstances beyond their control. This could include being absent from school due to illness, changing schools, or losing a family member.

To be approved, a qualified person at your child’s school will need to confirm there is a gap between their potential and actual grades, and they need extra help outside of what the school can offer. There is a section on the application form for the qualified person to complete. Additional tuition funding is intended to be utilised in addition to assistance available through the school, not instead of that assistance.

Once additional tuition is approved you can choose a tutor who best suits your child’s needs, but they must hold a valid Working with Children Check. DVA will then pay the invoices directly.

Additional tuition is approved for a calendar year, and up to $3,500 is available. If additional tuition is needed in the next year, a new claim form will be required and DVA will review whether it is still necessary.

You can apply for additional tuition by completing the below form and emailing it to educationschemes@dva.gov.au 

• DVA Form D9212 for additional tuition

Please contact the Education Scheme team to discuss eligibility.

Fares allowance

Fares allowance is paid to tertiary students who need to live away from home for their studies. It reimburses travel costs within Australia for tertiary students receiving the Living Away from Home rate of education allowance. Fares allowance reimburses the cost of travel from the student’s permanent home to their institution or school at the start of the year, return travel at the end of the year, and one return trip home during the academic year.

Fares allowance covers the cost of the least expensive and most available form of public transport in Australia. Where it’s not practical to use public transport, private transport can be used. If private transport is used, an explanation is required as to why public transport was not suitable. Claims must be supported by documents such as a receipt, ticket or boarding pass.

You can apply for fares allowance by completing the below form and emailing it to educationschems@dva.gov.au 

Rent assistance

Rent assistance helps with the cost of rent for students receiving the homeless double orphan rate of education allowance, or students who are 16 or over receiving the living away from home rate.

It’s not means tested but otherwise follows the rules which apply to rent assistance paid under the Social Security Act 1991. This means the amount of rent assistance paid depends on how much rent is paid (up to a maximum limit).

For students paying for board and lodging, only the amount paid for these is counted as rent for rent assistance purposes (not the amount paid for meals). If a student shares housing, they can receive up to two-thirds of the maximum rent assistance for singles living independently.

You can apply for rent assistance by completing the below form and emailing it to educationschemes@dva.gov.au 

• DVA Form D0742 for rent assistance

Guidance and counselling

Guidance and counselling may be arranged for students about matters affecting their progress in a course of study. Guidance and counselling can be arranged at the request of the student or in the case of a student under 18, guidance and counselling can also be requested by: 

• the student’s parent, guardian or trustee; or
• the principal of the school, college or institution at which the student is enrolled.

Families can also access support through Open Arms Veterans & Families Counselling, which is a free and confidential 24-hour service for current and ex-serving ADF members and their families. Call 1800 011 046 or go to the Open Arms website to get support or find out more.

Student Start-up and Relocation Scholarships

Tertiary students may be eligible for the Student Start-up Scholarship and the Relocation Scholarship.

The Student Start-up Scholarship helps students cover up-front higher education costs like textbook and equipment fees. Eligible students can receive a maximum of two scholarship payments per year.

The Relocation Scholarship helps students with the costs of establishing accommodation when they move to new place to study. To be eligible students must be receiving a DVA education allowance at the living away from home, homeless or double orphan rate. The Relocation Scholarship is paid once yearly for each year the student needs to live away from home for their course.

To be eligible to receive these scholarships, tertiary students must be studying an approved scholarship course and receiving an education allowance under the Education Scheme.

Students do not need to apply for the scholarships. Eligibility will be determined automatically by DVA. Students may be eligible to receive one or both of these scholarships, both of which are non-taxable. For more information, see Student start-up scholarship and relocation scholarship.

Energy Supplement

The Energy Supplement is an ongoing fortnightly payment, paid automatically to students who receive a fortnightly education allowance.

Income Support Bonus

The Income Support Bonus is paid to students who are 16 years old or over, or under 16 and receiving the education allowance rate of double orphan, homeless or living away from home. It is paid automatically to eligible students twice a year in late March and September to assist with unexpected expenses for students. The Income Support Bonus is tax free and does not count for income test purposes. 

Making a claim

If you have a MyService account, you can log in to make a claim.

Claims can also be made by completing a claim form:

• DVA Form D2697 for students under the age of 16 years;
• DVA Form D2566 for students 16 years and over;

You may also need to provide other documentation as part of the claim, including:

• Certified proof of identity
• Confirmation of enrolment outlining year level
• Proof of dependency, where the student is not a biological child.

Claims for assistance under the Education Schemes can also be made on the relevant claim form:

• DVA Form D9212 for additional tuition.
• DVA Form D0742 for rent assistance

Completed forms can be emailed to: educationschemes@dva.gov.au 

Alternatively, forms can be posted to DVA:

DVA Education Schemes
GPO Box 9998
Brisbane QLD 4001

Contact details 

Telephone: 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
Email: educationschemes@dva.gov.au
Mail: DVA Education Schemes
GPO Box 9998
Brisbane QLD 4001