Transition support

Transitioning to civilian life can bring big changes for you and your family. The more you prepare for this change, the smoother things will go. DVA works with Defence to help you prepare, but you can start planning your civilian life while you are still serving. 

Transcript of DVA Transition Support

Plan for life after service

Before you separate from Defence, it is a good idea to begin planning your civilian life.

Talk with a Veteran Support Officer (VSO)

Veteran Support Officers work on Defence bases across the country providing tailored support to ADF members in Australia or when posted overseas, including Defence families and those members who are not yet leaving the military. 

A VSO can: 

• tell you about the support DVA offers 
• help you to apply for benefits and services 
• offer advice about how DVA support can assist you transition into civilian life 
• teach you to use MyService and other online services.

The Veteran Support Office webpage has more information about the support they offer and how to contact them.

Register with MyService

You can register with MyService as soon as you join the ADF. MyService makes it faster and easier for you to:

• submit claims and track their progress 
• upload information to support your claim
• get support for a service-related wound, injury or condition
• apply for free mental health treatment
• view your Veteran Card online
• see your accepted conditions 
• register for the Australian Defence Veterans’ Covenant
• book transport, if you’re eligible 
• see your past and future payments
• update your communication preferences.

If you have served 1 day of full-time service, you can use MyService to apply for:

• Non-Liability Health Care (NLHC) mental health treatment  
• a Veteran White Card compensation for service-related conditions
   

How to register for MyService

Transcript of How to register to MyService

Attend Stepping Out

Stepping Out is a free group program designed to increase the awareness of important wellbeing, personal and social adjustment factors and to support ADF members and partners as they are transitioning, or who have transitioned, from the military to civilian life.

Current and former serving ADF members and their partners may attend (together or separately) as transition affects the whole family.

There are no time restrictions for veterans and partners to attend Stepping Out.

The program focuses on such things as:

• how to successfully adapt to change
• the differences between military and civilian culture
• planning ahead and managing expectations
• understanding motivation and self-care
• maintaining relationships and seeking support

For more information visit Open Arms - Veterans & Families Counselling.

Contact Open Arms

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling (Open Arms) is a nationally accredited mental health service that provides 24-hour free and confidential counselling and support to veterans and their immediate families.

Open Arms offers a combination of supports and interventions including:

• Counselling for individual, couples and families
• Case management for clients with more complex needs
• Group programs to develop skills and enhance support
• Community peer advisers
• After-hours telephone counselling
• Referrals to other services or specialist treatment programs, as needed. 

Open Arms is a voluntary service which you can contact on the toll-free phone number, 1800 011 046 or go to www.OpenArms.gov.au to see what supports Open Arms can provide including: 

• information about mental and physical wellbeing
• group programs and lifestyle and education workshops (e.g. Stepping Out, Relaxation and Stress Management, Building Better Relationships for Couples, sleep, anger, anxiety, pain, depression and trauma)
• support from a network of lived experience professionals (peers)
• free and confidential counselling.

Learn about the Veteran Employment Program 

The Veteran Employment Program offers you and your family advice and resources to help you:

• plan your pathway to civilian life
• better demonstrate your skills to employers
• learn about the culture of civilian workplaces
• identify and build your skills
• search for organisations committed to employing veterans
• or find support to start your own business.

Access treatment and services

You can access a range of supports to help with your physical and mental wellbeing. You can access the services and support we offer while you are serving and after separation.

Get your free Veteran Health Check

A Veteran Health Check is a comprehensive health assessment with your general practitioner (GP) to help you manage and take charge of your own health, take action to stay well, address health concerns early and develop a relationship with a new GP post-separation.

If you separated from the ADF before 1 July 2019, you can get one free health check from your general practitioner (GP). You can get this any time after you leave.

If you separated from the ADF on or after 1 July 2019, you can access one free check each year for five years after your separation. 

Access fully funded mental health support

Any veteran who has completed one day of full-time service in the ADF can access free lifetime mental health treatment for any mental health condition under Non-Liability Health Care (NLHC). You do not need to prove that your ADF service caused these conditions. 

You will qualify if you have undertaken continuous full-time service or performed certain types of reserve service. For more information visit Non-Liability Health Care (mental health). 

Obtain treatment while waiting on a claim

Under Provisional Access to Medical Treatment, we will pay for your treatment for one or more of the 20 most commonly accepted conditions before DVA has determined liability for them.

Access DVA rehabilitation services

If we accept your compensation claim, you will be able to access DVA’s rehabilitation services. We will tailor these services to your individual needs. 

For example, we can help you to find and manage work, find and access a treatment team in your local area, improve your wellbeing and connect to groups and activities in your local community.

For more information visit rehabilitation services.

Contact the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC)

Before your transition to civilian life, we recommend contacting CSC to discuss your super scheme. Depending on your personal situation, there may also be financial supports available to you.

For more information visit Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.  

Get financial support including making a compensation claim

Depending on your personal circumstances, you could be eligible for a range of payments and benefits. We offer regular pension payments and extra allowances to top up your income. We can also pay for health services and for support to help you in and around your home.

Making a compensation claim

If your service contributed to or caused any health condition, you should submit a claim as soon as possible.

You can submit a claim online with MyService or at one of our offices.

You do not have to wait for us to approve your claim before you can get help. If your claim was for a mental health condition, you might qualify to receive the Veteran Payment.

If your claim was for at least one of the conditions listed on this page, we will pay for a professional to treat you.

Veteran Payment 

While you are waiting for us to accept your claim, you might be able to access the Veteran Payment. 

The Veteran Payment provides short-term financial support to:

• people who have lodged a claim for a mental health condition
• partners of people who have lodged a claim for a mental health condition.

Permanent Impairment Payments

You may be eligible for tax-free compensation payments if you have sustained physical or psychological impairment related to your Defence service.

For more information visit Compensation claims.

Disability Compensation Payments

Disability Compensation Payments are paid to compensate veterans for injuries or diseases caused or aggravated by war service or certain Defence service rendered on behalf of Australia before 1 July 2004.

For more information visit Disability Compensation Payments. 

Invalidity Benefit

If you are medically separated from the ADF, you may be able to access an invalidity benefit under military superannuation arrangements from the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.

For more information visit Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.

Qualifying service

Certain operational service is also considered qualifying service, meaning you may be eligible for: 

• a Veteran Gold Card to cover all your health care services from age 70 
• early access to the Service Pension.

Service Pension

The Service Pension provides a regular income to veterans and their partners. It is an income support payment, so your income and assets affect how much you can receive.

Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme

The Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme (DHOAS) helps ADF members and families achieve home ownership through a subsidy payment. You will need to meet certain conditions to join the scheme.

Defence Service Home Insurance Scheme 

The Defence Service Home Insurance Scheme provides home building insurance to all current and former members of the ADF with at least one day of service regardless of their type of service, including reservists and widow(er)s of those ADF members.

Other help

You can also receive help from ex-service organisations (ESOs) that can connect you with other former serving members and their families. ESOs can help you to lodge your claims with us, find an advocate, and prepare for the civilian workforce.

Learn more about ESOs and see a list of these organisations.

Information on the Defence website can also help you to make the move.

Partnership with Defence

Defence is responsible for providing care and support to eligible serving members.

DVA is responsible for providing care and support to:

• war-widowed partners
• dependants of former serving members
• former serving members who are sick or injured.

We are also responsible for payments and benefits to eligible serving members.

What Defence tells us

Defence will tell us when a member:

• joins the ADF
• passes away during service
• is seriously wounded or injured in service
• separates on medical or administrative grounds (misuse of alcohol/use of prohibited substances)
• separates from the ADF.

How we reach out to you will depend on your situation. For example, when you join or separate from the ADF, we will send you a letter or email with the services that you may be eligible to receive.

Veteran Transition Strategy and Action Plan

The Veteran Transition Strategy and Action Plan are joint initiatives between across Commonwealth agencies that have a role in supporting transitioning veterans and families

The Strategy identifies six priority areas to support positive transition outcomes for members and families. The Action Plan sets out more than 60 actions to deliver on the priorities in the Strategy.