An accepted condition is an injury or disease DVA has accepted as related to your defence service. From 1 July 2026, DVA accepts more than 150 listed conditions automatically under presumptive liability if your service meets the criteria. Other conditions are assessed against the Statements of Principles (SoPs).
How DVA decides whether to accept a condition
- If your condition is on the presumptive liability list and your service meets its criteria, DVA accepts it without further investigation.
- If not, DVA checks whether it's an injury (not a disease) that happened while you were on duty, such as a fracture, heart attack or stroke.
- Otherwise, DVA looks for a link between your service and the condition, usually by applying the Statements of Principles.
Two standards of proof apply. For peacetime service, your condition must be more likely than not to be linked to service. For warlike, operational, peacekeeping and hazardous service, the more generous reasonable hypothesis standard applies.
DVA automatically accepted conditions
Presumptive liability applies to claims lodged from 1 July 2026 with a confirmed diagnosis. It covers:
- 80 or more common service-related conditions, including some that develop because of another accepted condition
- 40 or more conditions linked to specific workplace exposures
- 20 cancers for ADF firefighters
- 30 or more conditions for firefighters who served at Point Cook between 1957 and 1986, and for F-111 deseal/reseal workers
- some conditions for veterans who experienced abuse
Some examples from the list, with the service they need:
- sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, after any defence service
- fractures, sprains and strains, dislocations and acute knee meniscal tears that began during service
- posttraumatic stress disorder, after more than 28 days of warlike service
- anxiety disorder, after more than 28 days of warlike service, beginning within 5 years
- osteoarthritis of a leg joint and lumbar spondylosis, after more than 200 days of peacetime service or 133 days of warlike or non-warlike service
- skin cancers, cataract and pterygium, after at least 56 weeks of peacetime service or 29 weeks of warlike or non-warlike service
Secondary conditions include erectile dysfunction when depressive disorder, diabetes or hypertension is already accepted, and alcohol use disorder when depressive disorder or substance use disorder is already accepted.
Presumptive liability doesn't apply if there's clear evidence your condition was caused by something other than service. You don't apply for it separately: DVA considers it automatically.
Read the full presumptive liability determination
DVA Statements of Principles (SoPs)
SoPs are legislative instruments that list the known causes of a medical condition, drawn from medical and scientific evidence. Each condition has two versions: one for the reasonable hypothesis standard and one for the balance of probabilities. If a SoP applies, one of its causal factors must be met and related to your service. SoPs are published by the Repatriation Medical Authority.
Find a Statement of Principles
The top 20 DVA accepted conditions
DVA names the 20 conditions it most commonly accepts in its PAMT program, which pays for their treatment before a claim is decided. They include fractures, sprains and strains, lumbar and thoracic spondylosis, osteoarthritis, rotator cuff syndrome, internal derangement of the knee, disc prolapse, sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and skin conditions. See the full list of 20 conditions.
Conditions already accepted under the VEA or DRCA
Conditions DVA accepted under the VEA or DRCA are recognised under the MRCA without liability having to be established again.
Checking your accepted conditions
Your accepted conditions are listed in the Cards section of MyService. White Card holders can show that list to health providers.
Read about making a DVA claim, impairment points and the payout pages for PTSD, depression and anxiety, knee and back conditions and hearing loss.
Checked against DVA's website on 25 September 2026.