Improving wellbeing through increased access to treatment

An improved approach to supporting your health

The Australian Government continues to invest in improving the health and wellbeing of serving and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force by prioritising prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services.

DVA is committed to keeping the nation’s promise to look after those who serve or have served, and the families who support them. We are dedicated to ensuring veterans can access the best possible treatment and care to support their lifetime wellbeing.

The longstanding commitment to provide fully funded treatment has always been a part of Australia’s veterans’ support system. In December 2025, the Government announced a renewed focus on ensuring that treatment, rehabilitation and compensation work together to achieve better wellbeing outcomes for veterans and their families.

This renewed focus strengthens improved access to treatment — ensuring veterans can receive timely, evidence based care to support wellbeing, recovery and long term quality of life across a wide range of health conditions.

As part of this commitment, the Government is investing $739.2 million over four years from 2025–26 (with $130.2 million in 2029–30 and $159.3 million per year ongoing from 2030–31) to prioritise and expand access to modern prevention and early rehabilitative treatment. This investment aims to support veterans earlier, before conditions deteriorate or become chronic, and to improve long‑term health, wellbeing and quality of life.

Why early access to treatment matters

Modern clinical evidence shows that accessing the right treatment early helps to:

• improve daily functioning
• reduce long term impairment
• prevent conditions from worsening, and
• deliver better outcomes and significantly improve long-term quality of life.

This initiative builds on a renewed focus on the lifetime wellbeing of veterans and families of veterans. It also forms part of the Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, recognising that fostering wellbeing is an important protective factor against suicide.

The initiative supports the transition to a single ongoing Act for veterans’ entitlements from 1 July 2026, accompanied by increased investment in rehabilitation, treatment and mental health supports.

Improving access to treatment and rehabilitation

DVA is improving access to treatment and rehabilitation for current and ex‑serving ADF personnel to give them the best opportunity to address health conditions early, before they deteriorate or become chronic.

Veterans will benefit from access to a broad range of treatment and rehabilitation options, including innovative and evidence‑based treatments at the forefront of modern medicine. These include rehabilitation programs for joint pain, PTSD and other mental health conditions, as well as improved access to specialised treatment for conditions such as tinnitus, where early assessment and intervention can improve daily functioning and quality of life.

As part of this work, DVA is also working more closely with Defence to strengthen preventative approaches that help avoid or mitigate injuries during service. By emphasising prevention and improving access to treatment during and after service, these measures aim to deliver better long‑term health and wellbeing outcomes for serving members and veterans.

What this means for your claim

After an Initial Liability claim is accepted, DVA will work with veterans and their treating healthcare provider to ensure appropriate, evidence‑based care is provided and fully funded by DVA for accepted conditions.

DVA continues to make good progress in timely decision‑making at the initial liability stage. New claims are routinely triaged and allocated within 14 days, and decisions on claims lodged in the past twelve months are being made in around 110 days. DVA continues to work towards meeting the 90‑day timeframe set out in the Australian Veterans’ Recognition (Putting Veterans and Their Families First) Act 2019.

This means veterans can access full health services and, where eligible, incapacity payments while a permanent impairment (PI) claim is being assessed.

When a course of treatment concludes, the treating healthcare provider will provide DVA with an assessment of ongoing support needs, including information relevant to a potential PI claim, where indicated.

As part of this process, the treating healthcare provider will document treatment outcomes and provide clinical advice that supports DVA’s assessment of whether there is any degree of permanent impairment.

DVA will continue to communicate with veterans about the progress of their individual claims. While treatment is ongoing, veterans can continue to access entitlements and supports, including incapacity payments where they are experiencing economic loss due to a reduced capacity to work because of service‑related conditions. This support helps veterans maintain financial stability while focusing on their treatment and wellbeing.

For veterans intending to submit a new PI claim, or who are waiting for a PI claim to be finalised, DVA will contact them if there are treatments that could reasonably be expected to be beneficial for accepted conditions. This enables DVA to facilitate timely access to treatment so that permanent impairment claims can be assessed as soon as possible after treatment has concluded.