Travel for treatment

DVA’s Travel for Treatment program helps DVA clients and their attendant with transport costs to attend treatment that is:

• covered by their Veteran Card 
• within Australia.

Through DVA, you may be eligible for:

• reimbursement of travel expenses, including private vehicle allowance, parking, tolls, public transport, meals, and accommodation
• pre-arranged and pre-paid transport to and from medical appointments
• DVA funded ambulance services

Your access to travel entitlements may vary depending on both the legislation that determines your eligibility, and the location of the treatment provider you choose to attend.

Travel for treatment under the VEA

If you travel to attend treatment covered by your Veteran Card, or in connection with a claim for a Disability Compensation Payment or service pension, you may be eligible to claim travelling expenses under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA).

Find out more about travel for treatment entitlements:

• Claim travel expenses under the VEA

Booked Car with Driver service (VEA)

Booked Car with Driver (BCWD) is a service available to clients with eligibility under the VEA who meet the BCWD access criteria. To use BCWD, clients must be travelling to attend treatment covered by their Veteran Card.  DVA uses contracted transport providers to deliver the BCWD service, with a focus on quality and reliability.

To make a booking, or to discuss your access to BCWD, call 1800 550 455.

Find out more about BCWD here: 

• Access to the Booked Car with Driver (BCWD) Service

NSW Country Taxi Voucher Scheme (VEA)

A NSW country General Practitioner (GP) may, when medically necessary or at the request of DVA, issue taxi vouchers to entitled persons residing in NSW country areas who require assistance when travelling for treatment purposes. This Scheme does not operate in the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Canberra or Wollongong, or for travel across the borders into Victoria and Queensland.

For a list of NSW country DVA contracted transport providers see:

• NSW Country Taxi Voucher Scheme (PDF 154 KB)
• NSW Country Taxi Voucher Scheme (XLSX 66 KB)

Travel for treatment under the MRCA and DRCA

Under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA), you can claim reimbursement for the cost of reasonable travel expenses to attend treatment covered by your Veteran Card if:

• the journey exceeds 50km* of a return journey when travelling by private vehicle; or
• any length of a journey by public transport or ambulance where the accepted condition requires the use of this form of transport.

* In some circumstances, you may be eligible for reimbursement for journeys less than 50 kms.

Find out more about claiming reimbursement under the MRCA and DRCA here: 

• We may repay your travel costs under MRCA or DRCA

Emergency and Non-Emergency Ambulance (all Acts)

In the event of an accident or a health emergency, always call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance.

We will pay for an ambulance service when medically required for treatment of a condition covered by your Veteran Card.

We may also pay for non-emergency ambulance transport when arranged by a medical provider.  The provider will liaise with DVA to confirm you are eligible before they make the booking with the ambulance provider. 

• Ambulance Transport

Lodging your travel for treatment claim (all Acts)

You can lodge your travelling expenses claims using DVA’s online service, MyService. 

For more information, please visit the MyService website. 

Alternatively claims can be made by completing form D0800 - Claim for Travelling Expenses.