Sustainability Payments for Community Nursing and Veterans’ Home Care providers

Information for current DVA contracted Community Nursing and Veterans’ Home Care providers about the sustainability payment process.

Background

The Australian Government announced a commitment in the 2024-25 Budget to provide sustainability payments over a two-year period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026 to Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Community Nursing and Veterans’ Home Care (VHC) service providers. The measure has been extended for an additional two-year period until 30 June 2028. Sustainability payments will support the immediate viability of providers to continue providing in-home care and support services to the veteran community in the face of increasing market pressures.

The measure will support current DVA service providers so that eligible DVA clients can continue to access services that enable them to remain in their own home, reducing the likelihood of early admission to hospital and/or residential aged care.

Payment amount

The sustainability payments (payment) will be made on a quarterly basis for a four-year period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2028. Following the end of each quarter, DVA will calculate the payment amount for all current Community Nursing and VHC service providers, based on the unique number of clients each provider has received payment for, in each month of the preceding quarter.

• The payment amount calculated will be based on date of payment, for claims paid to service providers, during each month of the preceding quarter.
• The payment amount will be calculated based on the unique number of clients each service provider has received payment for, in each month of the preceding quarter.

The payment rate applied is $90 per unique client for Community Nursing services and $35 per unique client for VHC services, for payments processed, per month (GST exclusive).

Receiving the payment

Following the end of each quarter, an email will be sent to the email address of the nominated contact for each service provider legal entity. Emails will be distributed towards the end of the month following the end of the quarter. 

This email will provide a summary of the amount payable to each service provider, as calculated above.

To claim the amount, providers will need to submit a tax invoice to accounts.payable.mailbox@dva.gov.au, and include the below details:

• DVA Calculated Amount in $AUD plus GST
• Provider Legal Name and trading name(s)
• ABN
• Your TechnologyOne contract reference number*
  • Dual Community Nursing and VHC providers refer to instructions below
• Provider number and/or VHC Service Provider UIN
• Postal Address
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Bank Account Details
  • Name of Account
  • BSB
  • Account Number
• Invoice date and reference
• Description (DVA Sustainability Payment month – month year)

* If you do not know your TechnologyOne contract reference number, please contact your DVA Contract Manager immediately. You cannot submit an invoice without quoting this number. Failure to include your Contract Reference Number could delay your sustainability payment.

The invoice must reference Community Nursing or VHC Sustainability Payment for the current period being claimed e.g. April to June 2024. 

Please note: The invoice must be submitted directly to DVA at accounts.payable.mailbox@dva.gov.au. 
DVA strongly encourages you to submit your correctly rendered tax invoice within 30 days of receipt of the email.

Submission of an invoice is confirmation that the service provider agrees to receive the sustainability payment for the preceding quarter as a payment in addition to fees paid through existing arrangements for Community Nursing and VHC.

Dual Community Nursing and VHC providers

If you are a provider that delivers both Community Nursing and VHC services, you will receive two emails advising you of your sustainability payment eligibility for each program. Please ensure that you look for both emails, as the eligible amounts will be different in each email. Please note that you have different TechnologyOne contract reference numbers for each program. The TechnologyOne contract reference number for that program will be listed in the email.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are available for Community Nursing and Veterans’ Home Care providers:

• Community Nursing and Veterans’ Home Care Sustainability Payments – Provider FAQs (PDF 255 KB)
• Community Nursing and Veterans’ Home Care Sustainability Payments – Provider FAQs (DOCX 71 KB)

Enquiries

Any questions regarding the sustainability payments, including further information about how the payments have been calculated, can be emailed to dva.sustainability.payments@dva.gov.au.