Attendant care

What is Attendant Care

Attendant Care compensation can be provided to assist with regular and essential personal care tasks you can no longer do because of your accepted service-related injury or condition. Attendant care compensation can be used to pay for help with: 

• bathing
• toileting
• grooming
• dressing; and
• feeding

Attendant Care compensation is only available to veterans with accepted service-related conditions. 

Attendant Care compensation cannot be used to pay for medical or clinical services or nursing care.

Compensation may be approved for a limited period while you recover from surgery or other treatment, or long-term if you have ongoing impacts of your service-related condition.

Who can receive it

You may be eligible if:

• an assessment indicates you require compensation for Attendant Care due to an accepted service-related condition 
• your accepted condition prevents you from completing your essential and regular personal care tasks and;
• you live at home.

How you access

To be considered, complete and return the claim form. Your medical provider will also need to complete part of this form.

return the claim form:

• by email to hhs@dva.gov.au; or
• by post to GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001

We will contact you to confirm whether you are eligible. As part of the process, we may refer you for an assessment with a suitable assessor. the assessor will:

• assess your need for assistance with essential and regular personal care tasks due to your accepted service-related injury or disease
• consider who else is in your household and whether it is reasonable for them to assist you with personal care tasks without being paid to do so;
• consider whether compensation for attendant care will assist you to continue to live outside an institution; 
• consider whether compensation for attendant care will assist you to continue defence service or any other work; and
• consider what other medical or nursing care supports you receive to assist you with your personal care needs; and
• make a recommendation about the level of compensation for attendant care services, based on your assessed needs and circumstances, because of your accepted service-related injury or condition. 

We will contact you and let you know if compensation for Attendant Care can be you are approved. for services. If approved, you will need to:

• Choose a service provider from the following:
  • organisations accredited by the Australian Community Industry Alliance (ACIA); or     
  • organisations registered as National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) providers who deliver personal care services; or
  • registered personal care providers with My Aged Care
• talk with the service provider about suitable times to come to your home
• make sure your provider only delivers services that have been approved by DVA 
• pay your provider and claim reimbursement from DVA or instruct DVA to pay your provider directly for service; and
• work with your provider to manage any concerns about the standard of make sure services standards are maintained you are receiving.

How much can you receive

• The amount of compensation you can receive is based on an assessment of your needs due to your accepted service-related conditions.
• DVA cannot approve compensation in excess of a weekly statutory limit. If you are currently receiving attendant care compensation under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA) this maximum amount is $588.55 per week.
• The weekly statutory limit under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) is $611.46 per week.

Changes from 1 July 2026

• From 1 July, veterans who are having difficulties managing personal care tasks because of service-related conditions accepted under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) can lodge a claim for compensation for Attendant Care.
• All new claims for Attendant Care compensation lodged on or after 1 July  are assessed under the MRCA, irrespective of when you served in the ADF, when your injury or illness occurred, or which Act your service-related conditions were previously accepted under.
• From 1 July 2026, if you are already receiving Attendant Care compensation under DRCA, this will continue without interruption until the renewal date identified in your determination letter. Your compensation will then be reviewed under the MRCA.
• There are no advantages to requesting an earlier transition to MRCA if your current approval is for Attendant Care compensation is below the weekly statutory limit. You therefore do not need to take any action. 
• From 1 July 2026, if you are  receiving Attendant Care services at the DRCA weekly statutory limit, you can choose to contact DVA to discuss transitioning your services to MRCA before the end of your approval period. This will give you access to the slightly higher MRCA weekly statutory limit. 

What if I am receiving services from Veterans’ Home Care (VHC)

• The VHC Program has not been affected by the legislative change. Therefore, if you are already receiving VHC services, and are happy with them, you can continue to access them after 1 July 2026. 
• If you choose to lodge a claim for compensation for Attendant Care on or after 1 July 2026, and services are approved under the MRCA, the MRCA legislative rules about interactions between VHC and Attendant Care compensation will apply. 
• You will no longert be able to receive Personal Ccare services from VHC if you are receiving Attendant Care compensation and therefore this VHC service will be ceased. 

What to tell us

You should tell us if:

• you are getting, or applying for, services from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), My Aged Care or any other organisation or program
• the level of help you require changes
• you go into hospital, respite care, or move into you take up more permanent care arrangements, such as palliative care or as residential aged care.
• you plan to move
• you travel away from home.

Things you should know

• As part of the assessment, DVA will consider if it is reasonable for a member of your household to assist with tasks without being paid to do so.
• If you are eligible for Attendant Care compensation you may consider talking to DVA aout Household Services compensation.
• If you need clinically required nursing or complex personal care services, please talk to your doctor about accessing the DVA Community Nursing Program.