How Your Healthcare Team Can Support Your DVA Claim
Preparing and submitting your DVA Claim is the first step towards receiving the services and ongoing medical treatment you are entitled to. As highlighted in the Royal Commission’s Final Report, and multiple, independent research papers, the DVA Claims process can be difficult to navigate.
Why Your DVA Claim Is Important
Not every Veteran needs to submit a DVA Claim, but as an individual who has served within the Australian Defence Force, you are entitled to a sliding scale of support services, medical treatment, and other entitlements that can significantly contribute to your quality of life. For the 60% of Australian Veterans who experience serious health conditions and illnesses that are a result of their service, including long term health conditions such as chronic pain and persistent mental health conditions, these entitlements can make a vast difference in receiving continuity of care, and a curated health care plan that includes a coordinated multidisciplinary healthcare team.
What Does A DVA Claim Involve?
Preparing a DVA Claim is a lot like submitting a highly detailed insurance claim. The Department of Veterans Affairs works with Veterans and/or Veteran Advocates to assess the level of entitlement a Veteran requires to manage their health and maintain a good quality of life. This is determined through a myriad of documents including personal statements, forms, medical assessments and reports completed by medical professionals including your GPs, and, depending on the nature of your health, other specialists such as Psychiatrists, Gastroenterologists, Audiologists, Orthopeadic Surgeon, and others, as required.
These reports – also known as medico-legal reports, are formal, objective medical documents compiled by clinicians for legal purposes. These reports draw conclusions about the prognosis and causation of injuries and conditions, and the level of impairment a condition may have on an individual’s ability to do certain tasks and maintain a normal lifestyle. In reference to a DVA Claim, these reports paint a picture of your current health status.
What Kinds of Medical Reports Do I Need For A DVA Claim?
The DVA will require varying reports, dependent on the nature of your claim. The kinds of medical assessments you will be required to obtain can include:
- Provisional Diagnosis Report
- Complete Diagnosis Report
- Initial Liability Report
- Permanent Impairment Report.
Depending on the nature of your claim, these reports typically involve input of multiple clinicians and specialists.
What Are The Current Wait Times For DVA Claim Processing?
DVA Claim processing can take anywhere from several months to a few years, depending on the complexity of the claim. The Act your claims falls under (DRCA: this Act applies to defence careers before July 1, 2004, or MRCA: this Act applies if your service took place after July 1, 2004), the type of claim you are submitting; incapacity, permanent impairment, initial liability, and the current backlog at the time of your submission all impact the potential processing time.
In general terms, the current wait time is averaging about 85 days for straight forward incapacity claims, and up to 530 days for DRCA liability claims.
How Can I Make My DVA Claim Process Faster?
While the speed of your claim processing time involves a number of factors, one of the greatest impacts to timely acceptance is delays incurred waiting for clinical appointments to gather your required medical assessments.
Each reports requires a GP appointment to obtain a referral for any relevant specialists, and this is where wait times can blow out. The average wait time for GP appointments for Veteran-specific care is reportedly between 2-6 weeks. The current wait time for a Psychologist assessment appointments average to around 3-6 months.
Depending on availability, Veterans can potentially find themselves waiting 7 months to obtain one medical report. Finding a healthcare provider who can provide timely appointments can have a significant impact on reducing the time it takes to gather your medical assessments.
Can I Access Any Entitlements While My Claim Is Processing?
There are some entitlements that Veterans can access before their DVA Claim is processed, but none of these options offer the full coverage many Veterans may need.
Some Veterans are eligible to enter the Provisional Access to Medical Treatment (PAMT) program, where Veterans can access some DVA entitlements for certain conditions before the DVA has accepted liability for them.
There are limitations to some of these entitlements. Claims for the listed conditions must be submitted before 30 June 2026, you will be able to access treatment under the program until December 31 2026, or your claim is determined, whichever arrives first.
White Card Entitlements
All Australian Veterans should receive a DVA-issued White Card automatically upon discharge from the Australian Defence Force as part of non-liability healthcare. This essentially means that you can access treatment for some conditions – like mental health conditions – without the DVA having accepted liability for them. This care only covers treatment, and does not include assessments or reports.
The White Card can also cover other clinically required medical treatment, depending on the nature of the conditions, type and time of your service.
If you do not currently have a White Card, but are an Australian Veteran, learn more about how to apply here.
How Your Healthcare Team Can Help
Your healthcare team can have a significant impact on your DVA Claim’s processing time. Low wait times for GP appointments, service-aware GPs who understand the importance of your DVA Claim, low wait times for specialist assessment appointments, and fast turnaround of those DVA reports and assessments can all serve to reduce unnecessary delays.
How Total Veteran Healthcare Can Support Your DVA Claim
Low Wait Times: Total Veteran Healthcare is proud to have some of the lowest wait times in the country for GP appointments (zero wait times), and DVA assessment specialist appointments including psychiatry (one month) and psychology (zero wait time), getting your reports completed as timely as possible.
DVA-Aware Doctors: We also engage highly skilled and experienced clinicians who are well-versed in the DVA claims process and procedures, are understand how to compile reports that provide a true and accurate picture of your health status.
Truly Independent Services: Total Veteran Healthcare is not linked to the the Department of Veteran Affairs in any way, and the clinicians we engage are completely independent and objective. We also have no incentive to work with any given advocate, and support all Veterans whether they self-complete, use a fee-free, or fee-for-service advocate.
Treatment While You Wait For DVA: As a healthcare provider, Total Veteran Healthcare works to ensure Veterans receive the medical services they are entitled to, even if their DVA Claim has yet to be accepted. As a treatment provider, you can receive treatment through your existing accepted conditions, PAMT, or White Card non-liability healthcare at Total Veteran Healthcare by the same service-aware clinical team. This can typically include maintenance talk psychology and Allied Health services, supporting you whilst you navigate the DVA Claim process.
Supporting You, and Your DVA Claim
While Total Veteran Healthcare cannot provide direct guidance or advocacy for your DVA Claim, we can support Veterans by ensuring low wait times for medical assessment appointments, and the timely turnaround of medical assessments and reports.
Submitting your DVA Claim is a vital first step towards securing the medical services and entitlements you deserve and have earned through your service to Australia. While the DVA Claims process can be complex and emotionally fatiguing, it is important not to lose sight of one of the most vital, fragile parts of your life; your health. All Veterans deserve bespoke, coordinated multidisciplinary healthcare when their health needs support, whatever their DVA Claim status. During your onboarding, our staff will work with you to identify entitlements and services you may not be currently receiving, while supporting your DVA Claim.
Total Veteran Healthcare is committed to supporting Veterans to receive high quality healthcare, wherever they are. Learn more about how we can support your DVA Claim, or contact us to find out more.
