Compensation under VEA and MRCA pathway

If you have a service related injury or condition you may apply for compensation. If we make a determination about your case that you are not happy with you can ask us to reconsider.

The review pathway

Compensation decisions made under the following Acts follow this review pathway:

• the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA)
• the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).

For compensation decisions made under the VEA and the MRCA, the review process is:

1. The Veterans' Review Board (VRB) performs a merits review of your case. If you disagree with the outcome, you can move to step 2.
2. The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) performs a merits review of your case.

When you receive notice of our initial decision about your claim we will let you know how long you have to request a review.

Types of review

Most cases under the VEA fall into one of the following categories:

• An Entitlement Case about whether disease, injury or death is service related.
• An Assessment Case about how much we pay for as a pension.

Most cases under the MRCA fall into one of the following categories:

• A Liability Case about whether disease, injury or death is service related.
• A Compensation Case about how much compensation you can receive for an incapacity from injury or disease that is already accepted as service related.
• A Rehabilitation Case about rehabilitation benefits available in connection with an injury or disease that is already accepted as service related.

Request a review

You can request a review in one of the following ways:

• apply through MyService
• send an email to appeals [at] dva.gov.au (appeals[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au)
• send a letter to our mailing address.

In your application you must state why you think our decision is incorrect.

The review team will have access to the information in your file. If you have more information or evidence to support your claim, include it with your request for a review.

After you request a review we may ask you for more information or to attend medical appointments.

VEA Reviews

There are two types of reviews available under the VEA:

• a review under section 115 of the VEA
• a review by the VRB under section 135 of the VEA.

Section 115 reviews

A review under section 115 of the VEA is an internal review by the Commission for certain allowances that are not covered by the VRB.

Section 135 (VRB) reviews

A review under section 135 of the Act is a review made by the VRB.

There are VRBs in each State capital city and in Canberra.

MRCA Reviews

If you are unhappy with the outcome of a compensation claim made under the MRCA, you can apply to the Veterans' Review Board using MyService.

Outcomes

After the review we will let you know in writing what our decision is.

Costs

We may reimburse you some costs of getting medical evidence or travelling to the VRB for a hearing.

Please contact us to discuss your case and see if we are able to reimburse these costs.

You can also complete form Claim for Costs of Relevant Documentary Medical Evidence Incurred by Applicants to the Veterans' Review Board (VRB).