Ambulance transport

In the event of an accident or a health emergency, always call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance.

An emergency ambulance is a vehicle equipped for urgently taking sick or injured people to hospital. 

At times, a non-emergency ambulance service may be required to transport people with certain medical requirements from hospital to another treatment facility, or home.

The cost of ambulance transport varies between states and territories, and Medicare does not cover the cost.

We may pay for your ambulance journey in an emergency or in some non-emergency situations. Eligibility for ambulance services depends on individual circumstances and assessment by DVA.  

DVA does not pay for ambulances services for treatment that is not covered by your Veteran Card.

Who can receive DVA funded ambulance services

We can pay for ambulance transport when medically required if you are travelling for treatment of a condition covered by your Veteran Card:

• Veteran Card - All Conditions for all health conditions
• Veteran Card - Specific Conditions for accepted service related conditions, or a condition treated under Non-Liability Health Care or Provisional Access to Medical Treatment. 

What we pay for

If you are eligible to access DVA funded emergency ambulance services, we can pay for road and air ambulance, as well as emergency treatment delivered by paramedics on the scene that may not require travel to hospital.  

We can also pay for non-emergency ambulance transport if you require transport on a stretcher or treatment during transport, or you have a medical condition that precludes the use of other forms of transport. Your health provider will arrange this for you. DVA staff are unable to arrange ambulance services as it must be done by a clinician or authorised person such a hospital discharge planner. 

If you receive an invoice for an ambulance service for a medical condition covered by your Veteran Card, contact the ambulance provider directly, and advise you are a DVA client. If you have paid your ambulance invoice, please contact us for advice by emailing Transport.programs@dva.gov.au or calling 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372).

How you access ambulance transport

Emergency ambulance

In a medical emergency, always call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance. 

When possible, advise the paramedic you have a Veteran Card and provide details.  If you can’t provide your Card details you may be invoiced for the service.  If this happens, don’t pay the invoice, and contact us for advice.

Non-emergency ambulance 

For non-emergency ambulance transport, your treating doctor, hospital physician or discharge planner will make the necessary arrangements directly with the ambulance provider.  They will also liaise with us to confirm if we will pay for the ambulance service.

Access to ambulance services while travelling

If you are travelling outside Australia, you may be eligible for reimbursement of emergency ambulance transport if this was required for the treatment of a condition that has been accepted by DVA as service related. This does not include conditions covered by Non-Liability Health Care.  See Medical care while overseas for more information. 

Please be aware if you need treatment when travelling domestically or internationally, we cannot pay for you to be transported back home.

You may need to consider taking out travel insurance to ensure you have appropriate ambulance coverage before travelling.

Things you should know

• You may consider taking out general ambulance cover (in Australia) as we cannot pay for ambulance transport in all instances.
• If you are admitted to hospital and your treating doctor determines there is a clinical need to be transferred to another facility by ambulance, the hospital where you are admitted will make the necessary arrangements.
• If you travel by ambulance, we generally do not provide travel assistance for a family member or friend to undertake the role of a medically required attendant to escort you during the journey.
• If you receive an invoice for an ambulance service that you believe should be covered by your Veteran Card, contact the ambulance provider and ask them to send the invoice to DVA.
• If you need to permanently move between residential aged care locations and need non-emergency ambulance transport support, please contact us.