Attendant Allowance

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What is Attendant Allowance?

A regular payment to help eligible veterans with the cost of an attendant. Depending on what you need, the attendant can help with things like:

• feeding
• washing
• dressing
• other activities of daily living.

The allowance is paid to the veteran (not the attendant).

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Who can receive it

You may be eligible if you have an injury or condition related to service before 1 July 2004, which has resulted in any of the following:

• both eyes blinded, or
• both legs and one arm amputated, or
• both legs amputated at the hip, or
• one leg amputated at the hip and the other amputated in the upper third, or
• an injury or condition severely affecting the brain and spinal system, or with similar effect.

A higher rate may be paid if:

• both arms are amputated, or 
• you have been blinded in both eyes with total loss of speech or total deafness.

For this allowance, a leg, foot, hand or arm that is permanently unable to be used is considered amputated.

The Attendant Allowance is not payable if:

• you are fully cared for in a public hospital or institution 
• if Centrelink is paying a Carer Payment to an attendant for your care.

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How much you can receive 

The allowance is paid fortnightly at two rates. The rate you receive depends on your service-related injury or condition.

The allowance is paid at:

• $209.10 for the lower rate
• $418.60 for higher rate.

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How you claim

You can complete a claim form and send it to us by:

• email to compensation.claims [at] dva.gov.au (compensation[dot]claims[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au), or
• post to GPO Box 9998, BRISBANE QLD 4001.

If you need help accessing or completing the form, you can contact us.

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Important information

• A limb which is permanently unable to be used is deemed to be amputated.
• If your partner is your carer they do not need to give up work for you to be eligible.
• Payment of this allowance is not assessed as income for Income Support Pension purposes.

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What you need to tell us

If any of the details on your application form change after your submission, you need to let us know within 21 days.

Once granted if anything changes that could affect your entitlements, you need to let us know within 14 days (or 28 days if you receive the Remote Area Allowance or live overseas).

You need to tell us if:

• you are fully cared for in a public hospital or institution
• the person caring for you starts receiving a Carer Payment from Centrelink.

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