VEA Veterans

Veterans who were injured in service before 1 July 2004 may be covered under VEA. You can learn about the payments and benefits available to you and your family. 

What will happen from 1 July 2026?

Any compensation being received under the VEA and/or DRCA before 1 July 2026 will continue to be paid. These payments will also continue to be indexed as normal. 

Any new or updated claims lodged from 1 July 2026 will be assessed under the MRCA. 

Veteran Gold Card

If you already hold a Gold Card under the VEA there will be no change to your entitlements.

If you do not hold a Gold Card, there are several pathways to receiving a Gold Card under the MRCA from 1 July 2026. These include: 

• becoming eligible for the new Additional Disablement Amount (ADA)
• becoming eligible for Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP) or
• being assessed at 60 impairment points or more.

To become eligible for a Gold Card at 60 impairment points, VEA/DRCA veterans will also need to have a claim for initial liability accepted under the MRCA or have at least a 5-point worsening of their conditions since their previous assessment.

To become eligible for a Gold Card via SRDP or ADA eligibility, veterans will need to meet the criteria outlined in the respective sections below. 

Automatic grants of War Widow(er)’s pension and Gold Cards to dependants of certain deceased VEA veterans will continue from 1 July 2026. As these benefits don’t need to be claimed, they will automatically be paid.

Visit the Legislation Reform Veteran Card page for more information. 

Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP)

SRDP under the MRCA is similar to the Special Rate (or TPI) pension under the VEA except there is no ‘alone test’ for SRDP. 

From 1 July 2026, VEA veterans may be determined to have eligibility for SRDP under the MRCA if they:

• are receiving MRCA incapacity payments; and 
• have 50 or more Permanent Impairment points; and
• have confirmation from treating medical specialists that they are unable to work more than 10 hours per week; and
• have confirmation from treating medical specialists that rehabilitation is unlikely to improve their ability to work. 

Once eligible, veterans will automatically receive a Gold Card with a ‘TPI’ embossing and will be offered the choice to receive SRDP payments in lieu of their incapacity payments. SRDP offsetting arrangements are different to the arrangements for TPI pensions under the VEA.

Visit the Legislation Reform SRDP page for more information. 

Additional Disablement Amount (ADA)

The ADA will be introduced under the improved MRCA for veterans who are over pension age and who have a high degree of impairment due to service-caused injuries or illness. It is similar to the Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA) benefit currently available under the VEA, although the offsetting arrangements differ. 

From 1 July 2026, VEA veterans may be determined to have eligibility for ADA under the MRCA if they:

• are pension age or older; and
• are assessed at 70 impairment points or more under the MRCA; and
• have a lifestyle rating of 6 or above. 

ADA benefits include a fortnightly payment, a Gold Card with an ‘EDA’ embossing, and automatic benefits for dependants including education schemes and death compensation.  

The payment is being introduced to ensure continued support for those over pension age once the VEA is closed to new claims. If you already receive an EDA payment, you will continue to receive that benefit and will not be eligible for the ADA as well.

Additionally, veterans receiving SRDP or TPI will be ineligible for the ADA. 

Visit the Legislation Reform ADA page for more information. 

Education Scheme 

From 1 July 2026 there will be only one education scheme, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCAETS).

Access to the MRCAETS will be extended to eligible dependants of VEA veterans subject to meeting the necessary requirements under the MRCA. 

From 1 July 2026, if you are accessing VCES you will automatically transfer to MRCAETS without the need to reapply for the current study year.

Visit the Legislation Reform Education Scheme page for more information. 

Permanent Impairment (PI)

From 1 July 2026, all new permanent impairment claims will be processed under the improved MRCA. 

The improved MRCA will have a number of PI related changes. These include: 

• ‘Date of effect’ – changes will allow treating doctors to provide a meaningful estimate of when an impairment met the requisite criteria of being permanent and stable for payment to commence. 
• Section 80 payments – provisions relating to these payments (made in respect of the children of severely injured veterans) are being amended to allow this compensation amount to be apportioned in line with the caring arrangements for the child.  
• Posthumous MRCA PI payment – these changes will give a legal personal representative the option to convert the weekly rate of PI compensation that would have been payable to a deceased veteran to a lump sum (excluding lifestyle effects).
• Financial advice – allows the Repatriation Commission to determine circumstances that mandatory financial advice should apply prior to payment of a lump sum. 

Veterans will also have greater flexibility in how compensation linked to accepted disabilities is provided, allowing periodic payments to be converted to a lump sum (which is not currently available under the VEA).

Visit the Legislation Reform Permanent Impairment page for more information. 

Incapacity Payments

Veterans who are under age pension age and who are unable to work due to their accepted conditions may become eligible for incapacity payments (based on lost income levels) or Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP) under the MRCA. This will particularly benefit veterans who have previously been found ineligible for TPI as they have not met the ‘alone test’ under the VEA (there is no equivalent test under the MRCA for incapacity benefits or SRDP).

Visit the Legislation Reform Incapacity Payments page for more information. 

Additional Resources

There is a range of additional resources available on the Legislation Reform website covering a variety of topics. These include: the Veteran Card, Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP), Additional Disablement Amount (ADA), Permanent Impairment Compensation, Incapacity Payments and Education Scheme.

There are individual pages for different veteran cohorts including VEA veterans, MRCA veterans and family members of veterans.