There is no average DVA payout for PTSD. DVA doesn't publish one, and it doesn't pay a set amount for post-traumatic stress disorder. If DVA accepts your PTSD as related to service, permanent impairment compensation depends on how much all your accepted conditions impair you (measured in impairment points), how they affect your lifestyle, and your type of service. Two veterans with the same diagnosis can receive very different amounts.
If you need support now, call Open Arms on 1800 011 046 at any time. In an emergency, call 000.
How DVA works out a PTSD payment
From 1 July 2026, all new claims are assessed under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA), whenever you served. The amount is worked out in this order:
- DVA accepts liability for PTSD through an initial liability claim.
- Your condition has stabilised and the impairment is likely to continue indefinitely. If it hasn't, an interim payment may be possible, as set out below.
- A medical practitioner assesses how PTSD affects you. DVA rates it using Chapter 4 of the Guide to Determining Impairment and Compensation (GARP M 2026), which rates your own distress and visible distress, then adds the three highest ratings from six areas: day-to-day functioning, work, home life, social contact, leisure and current treatment.
- DVA combines the ratings for all your accepted conditions (they're combined, not added) into a total from 0 to 100 impairment points. You need at least 10 points to receive compensation.
- You complete the Lifestyle Rating form (D2670), and DVA gives a lifestyle rating from 0 to 7.
- GARP M converts the points and lifestyle rating into a compensation factor, with higher factors for warlike and non-warlike service than for peacetime service. The factor is multiplied by the maximum weekly rate, $447.39.
- DVA takes earlier compensation into account, such as a VEA Disability Compensation Payment or a DRCA lump sum, so you aren't paid above the MRCA maximum.
Read DVA's permanent impairment information
Getting PTSD accepted as service-related
DVA first checks presumptive liability. PTSD is presumed to be service-related if you had more than 28 days of full-time warlike service, not counting the first 28 days, unless there's clear evidence something other than service caused it. There's no time limit on when PTSD begins after that service. A separate rule covers some veterans who experienced abuse in the ADF and received a maximum redress or reparation payment. You don't apply for presumptive liability separately, and a claim with a confirmed diagnosis may be decided in less than 2 weeks.
If presumptive liability doesn't apply, DVA uses the Statements of Principles (SOPs) made by the Repatriation Medical Authority. The current PTSD SOPs are No. 97 of 2022 (reasonable hypothesis) and No. 98 of 2022 (balance of probabilities). One of the listed factors must have happened before PTSD began or worsened and be related to your service. They include:
- experiencing a life-threatening event, a serious physical or sexual assault, or being threatened with a weapon or held captive
- killing or maiming a person, or being an eyewitness to a person being killed or critically injured
- clearing or viewing a corpse or a critically injured casualty as an eyewitness
- repeated or extreme exposure to details of severe traumatic events
The reasonable hypothesis SOP, which applies to warlike, operational, peacekeeping and hazardous service, also includes living or working in a hostile or life-threatening environment for at least 4 weeks. The balance of probabilities SOP, used for peacetime service, doesn't include that factor.
You lodge the claim in MyService with a diagnosis. DVA has allowed treating GPs and clinical psychologists to diagnose anxiety and depressive disorders for claims; that change doesn't list PTSD, so check with DVA or an advocate what diagnosis it needs. Read the PTSD Statements of Principles
How much the payout can be
DVA publishes weekly rates by impairment points. These are the totals for all your accepted conditions, not for PTSD alone.
| Impairment points | Weekly rate, warlike or non-warlike service | Weekly rate, peacetime service |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | $447.39 | $447.39 |
| 50 | $238.01 | $132.87 |
| 30 | $138.69 | $77.40 |
| 20 | $99.32 | $55.48 |
| 10 | $49.66 | $27.74 |
These are DVA's published MRCA rates from 1 July 2026, using the higher expected compensation factor for each level. Your lifestyle rating can move the amount up or down. See the full impairment points table.
As an illustration only: if your accepted conditions combined to 30 impairment points from warlike service, and your lifestyle rating matched the expected level, the weekly amount would be the 30-point figure in the warlike column. A different lifestyle rating, earlier compensation or a mix of service types would change it.
Weekly payments, lump sums and other payments
Permanent impairment compensation is paid fortnightly, and you may be able to convert some or all of it to a lump sum based on your age. You have six months from DVA's offer to choose, and the choice is final. If you're assessed at 50 or more points, DVA reimburses financial and legal advice up to $3,397.18. At 60 or more points you may be eligible for a Veteran Gold Card.
If PTSD stops you working, other payments may apply:
- Veteran Payment is an interim payment while DVA assesses an MRCA mental health claim, if you can't work more than 8 hours a week, are under Age Pension age and meet residency, income and assets tests.
- DVA fast-tracks incapacity payments when mental health stops you working your usual hours.
- The Special Rate Disability Pension may be offered if you have 50 or more impairment points and can't work more than 10 hours a week.
Treatment you can get without a claim
You don't need an accepted claim to get PTSD treated. Through non-liability health care (NLHC), DVA fully funds treatment of any mental health condition for current and former full-time ADF members, including reservists with at least one day of continuous full-time service. Reservists without it may qualify through disaster relief or border protection service, or a serious service-related training accident.
You need a Veteran Card that covers mental health; Gold Card holders are already covered. Apply in MyService, call 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372) or email [email protected]. NLHC covers GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, hospital admissions, prescribed medicine and Open Arms services.
Read DVA's non-liability health care information
Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling offers free face-to-face, phone and online counselling, group programs and 24-hour crisis support on 1800 011 046. Partners and children of current and former ADF members can use it in their own right. Read about Open Arms counselling. See DVA mental health treatment options.
If DVA refuses your claim or you disagree with the amount
Your decision letter gives the reasons and the time limit. For most decisions made from 21 April 2025, you apply to the Veterans' Review Board within 12 months, and can then appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal within 3 months of the Board's decision. Free advocates at ex-service organisations can help. Read about DVA reviews and appeals.
If your PTSD gets worse later, you can claim additional compensation once your overall impairment has increased by at least 5 points.
Rules that are easy to miss
You don't have to finish treatment before any PI is paid. For a first PI claim that includes PTSD, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, substance use disorder or alcohol use disorder, DVA's policy is to offer interim compensation while you're still in treatment, based on at least 10 impairment points for that condition if it currently rates 10 or more, combined with your other accepted conditions. If treatment works and your final rating is lower, what you were paid isn't treated as an overpayment and isn't taken back. Interim compensation can also be converted to a lump sum.
Common questions
Can I go by payout figures other veterans post online?
No. Someone else's amount reflects their own accepted conditions, lifestyle rating, service type, earlier compensation and age. Only your own assessment against DVA's published rates gives a real figure.
Is PTSD compensation taxed or counted by Centrelink?
Permanent impairment compensation is tax-free and isn't counted as income by Centrelink, but it may be counted in an assets test. For the service pension, a lump sum is deemed to earn income. Call Centrelink on 1800 777 653 and ask for the Compensation Recovery Team, or see a financial adviser.
Checked against DVA's website on 25 September 2026.