Household Assistance

You may be entitled to DVA supplements to help with household costs. Supplements include:

• Veterans supplement
• Pension supplement
• Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) supplement 
• Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA) supplement 

Back to top

Energy Supplement

As an Australian resident, you may also be eligible for a fortnightly or quarterly Energy Supplement payment. This supplement, designed to help you meet household costs, is paid in addition to your regular income support and compensation payments. The payment is not included in the income used to assess income support payments and does not form part of your taxable income.

You may be eligible for an Energy Supplement if you receive one or more of the following:

• Service pension
• Age pension paid by DVA
• War widow(er)’s pension
• Disability Compensation Payment
• Wholly dependent partner payment
• Special rate disability pension
• Permanent impairment payment
• Education allowance
• The Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card
• Veteran Gold Card

Find out more about current Energy Supplement rates:

• energy supplement

Back to top

Clothing allowance

A fortnightly Clothing Allowance payment may be available to help you offset the cost of replacing worn or damaged clothing if you have:

• one arm and leg amputated
• both arms or both legs amputated
• one leg amputated resulting in certain hip problems
• both eyes blinded.

Note: You might also be eligible under other circumstances.

Find out more about your clothing allowance eligibility, the current clothing allowance rates and how to submit an application for clothing allowance.

• application for clothing allowance
• clothing allowance
• clothing allowance rates

Back to top

Essential Medical Equipment Payment

As an Australian resident you may also be eligible for the Essential Medical Equipment Payment. This annual payment goes towards the costs of running essential medical equipment or medically required heating and/or cooling that arise from the introduction of a carbon price. The payment is not included in the income used to assess income support payments and does not form part of your taxable income.

To receive the Essential Medical Equipment Payment through DVA, you or your carer must:

• be covered by a Commonwealth Government concession card issued by DVA or a Veteran Gold Card or Veteran White Card; and
• use certain essential medical equipment (link to Certified Essential Medical Equipment below), or have certain medical conditions that medically require the use of heating and/or cooling in your home (link to Certified medically required heating and/or cooling below); and
• be responsible for contributing to payment of the energy account.

Dependent children are not able to claim this payment.

• essential medical equipment payment

Back to top

Certified Essential Medical Equipment

You can claim the Essential Medical Equipment Payment for each of the following eligible items of equipment (provided they are medically required):

• home dialysis machine
• home ventilator
• home respirator
• home parental or enteral feeding device
• oxygen concentrator
• heart pump
• suction pump
• infant apnoea monitor – when prescribed by a medical practitioner following apnoeic events
• nebuliser – when used daily
• positive airways pressure device
• phototherapy equipment
• airbed vibrator
• electric wheelchair
• insulin pump.

If the equipment has not been provided by a recognised DVA programme, for example through the Rehabilitation Appliances Program, proof will be required from a medical practitioner that the equipment is essential to manage the person’s condition, and the person has been advised to use the equipment at home. This certification must be made using the Essential Medical Equipment Payment Medical Confirmation Form.

• Essential Medical Equipment Payment Medical Confirmation Form

The Essential Medical Equipment Payment can be claimed through DVA by completing and submitting an Essential Medical Equipment Payment – User’s Claim Form - EMEP or an Essential Medical Equipment Payment – Carer’s Claim Form - EMEP or by visiting a Veterans’ Access Network (VAN) office.

• Essential Medical Equipment Payment – User’s Claim Form - EMEP
• Essential Medical Equipment Payment – Carer’s Claim Form - EMEP

Back to top

Certified medically required heating and/or cooling

To qualify for the Essential Medical Equipment Payment, a medical practitioner must certify, using the Essential Medical Equipment Payment Medical Confirmation Form, that the person with medical needs meets the following criteria:

• the person has a specified medical condition (as outlined below)
• the person is unable to regulate his or her body temperature because of that medical condition and requires medical heating and/or cooling in their home and
• without medical heating and/or cooling, the person risks serious harm to his or her health.

The specified medical conditions are:

• spinal cord injury at or above the T7 level
• stroke
• brain injury
• neurodegenerative disorder
• the muscular dystrophies
• full thickness burns covering more than 20 per cent of the body surface area
• rare disorders of sweating including congenital absence or mal-development of sweat glands
• chronic erythrodermas.

Back to top

More information

For more information about household assistance supplements, contact general enquiries on the DVA contact us page.

Back to top