The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) policy on veterans claims for service-related mental health conditions previously required that only a psychiatrist could provide a diagnosis of mental health conditions for the purpose of initial liability claims.
DVA has reviewed this policy and has now expanded the list of providers whose diagnosis can be accepted by DVA for initial liability claims for anxiety or depressive conditions. Providers who can now provide diagnoses for initial liability claims for depressive and anxiety disorders now include, in addition to psychiatrists:
- Treating General Practitioners (i.e. general practitioners with an ongoing treating relationship with the veteran).
- Treating Clinical Psychologists (i.e. clinical psychologists with an ongoing treating relationship with the veteran).
- Clinical Psychologist reports provided as part of the Department of Defence’s Medical Employment Classification Review (MECR) process.
- Clinical Psychologist reports obtained during service and immediately after (within 1 year of) separation from the ADF.
Diagnoses will be required to be in accordance with DSM-V criteria.
In most cases, what will be required is the relevant diagnostic information on the Injury and Disease Details Sheet. If further information is then needed by DVA, there may be a request for a more detailed report made to treating GPs or clinical psychologists or, in particular complex cases, referral may still be made to a psychiatrist. Clinical Psychologist reports in Defence medical records may also be utilised.
DVA’s Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge (CLIK) provides further information about the Guidelines for Psychiatric Compensation Claims, including:
- An introduction to the Diagnostic & Assessment Guidelines,
- The format and content of a psychiatric report,
- Information about the disclosure of reports under review and appeal processes.
The information can be accessed by clicking the following link: CM7014 MRCC181 - Guidelines for Psychiatric Compensation Claims | CLIK
Support and training for relevant providers will be available through VETs HeLP (an education portal proved by Medcast, a well-respected medical education provider) which contains modules on compensation and is readily available to practitioners. Resources include courses, webinars, podcasts and blogs. A ‘Supporting Veterans Through Claims’ training module is now available and additional training is expected to be released later 2025. For more information Practitioners can go to Veterans Health | Medcast.
It is anticipated that these changes will help simplify the claiming process for veterans who are affected by mental health conditions, and for the practitioners that support them. It will also significantly expand the number of practitioners able to support diagnoses of these conditions among veterans for claiming purposes, relieve pressures on psychiatrists allowing them to focus on more complex matters and clinical care and reduce the time veterans need to wait to obtain a diagnosis for their mental health claims.
DVA will continue to consider and review the policies around diagnoses of mental health conditions and will advise of any additional future changes.
We thank you for your ongoing support to the veteran community.
Further information
- DVA offer a number of handy quick tips on compensation claims
- VETsHeLP is an eLearning platform for health professionals providing access to CPD accredited education resources
For more education, and resources to support providers to support veterans and their families, visit For providers