VEA Partners

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. Payment will continue to be indexed as normal. 

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

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 under the existing provisions of the VEA.

Wholly Dependent Partners

Dependants under the MRCA are known as ‘Wholly Dependent Partners’. Should you need to make a new claim from 1 July 2026 it will be subject to the eligibility criteria (and benefits) under the MRCA. 

Visit the DVA website Compensation for Dependants page for more information on additional supports that may be eligible to you.

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, Additional Disablement Amount (ADA) and Compensation for Dependants.

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