DVA payout figures depend on which Act covers your payment. From 1 July 2026, all new claims are assessed under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA), where the maximum permanent impairment payment is $447.39 a week. Existing payments under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA) continue and are indexed. The figures below are the rates and maximums DVA publishes, not what any one person will receive.
MRCA compensation rates
DVA's MRCA rates from 20 September to 31 December 2026:
| Payment | Rate |
|---|---|
| Permanent impairment, maximum (80 or more impairment points) | $447.39 a week, or a lump sum based on your age |
| Extra lump sum for each dependent child of a veteran with 80 or more points | $115,175.42 |
| Incapacity payments | 100% of normal earnings for the first 45 weeks, then 75% to 100% depending on hours worked, less what you earn |
| Special Rate Disability Pension | Up to $977.95 a week before offsets |
| Additional Disablement Amount | Up to $532.60 a week before offsets |
| Household services | Up to $633.47 a week |
| Financial and legal advice (50 or more points) | Up to $3,397.18 |
The SRDP and ADA rates include the Energy Supplement.
View DVA's MRCA compensation rates
How the PI payment scales
Below 80 impairment points, the weekly PI amount is the maximum multiplied by a compensation factor from GARP M, the guide DVA uses to assess impairment. The factor depends on your impairment points, your lifestyle rating and whether your conditions came from warlike or non-warlike service or from peacetime service. DVA's published table uses the higher factor in the expected range for each level:
| Impairment points | Warlike or non-warlike factor | Peacetime factor |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 0.111 | 0.062 |
| 30 | 0.310 | 0.173 |
| 50 | 0.532 | 0.297 |
| 80 or more | 1.00 | 1.00 |
As an illustration only: at 30 points from warlike service, the table factor is 0.310, so the weekly amount would be 31% of $447.39. The same points from peacetime service would give 17.3%. Your lifestyle rating, earlier compensation and a mix of service types can change the factor, and a lump sum also depends on your age. See the full impairment points table with weekly amounts.
Compensation for dependants under the MRCA
If a veteran's death is accepted as service-related, or in some other cases, DVA can compensate their dependants. Rates from 20 September to 31 December 2026:
- a wholly dependent partner: $630.80 a week, which can be converted to a lump sum based on age
- each eligible young person: a lump sum of $115,175.42, plus $191.56 a week
- funeral expenses: up to $15,530.09
Read about DVA support for families
VEA Disability Compensation Payment and TPI rates
The VEA closed to new claims on 1 July 2026. People already receiving a Disability Compensation Payment keep it, and it's indexed twice a year. DVA's fortnightly rates from 20 September to 31 December 2026, including the Energy Supplement:
| Rate | Fortnightly amount |
|---|---|
| Special Rate (TPI) and Temporary Special Rate (TTI) | $1,955.90 |
| Intermediate Rate | $1,296.70 |
| Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA) | $1,055.50 |
| General Rate at 100% | $679.10 |
| General Rate at 10% | $74.84 |
The General Rate is paid in 10% steps between these two figures. Read about TPI.
DRCA compensation rates
The DRCA is also closed to new claims. DRCA incapacity payments moved to the MRCA on 1 July 2026, and a DRCA claim lodged before then is still decided under the DRCA. DVA's DRCA rates page lists these figures as current from 1 July 2025:
- permanent impairment: a maximum lump sum of $243,910.36, plus a maximum non-economic loss lump sum of $91,466.44
- household services: up to $609.74 a week
- financial advice (Defence Act): up to $2,198.25
DRCA permanent impairment is paid as a lump sum, not weekly. If you later receive MRCA compensation, DVA takes the DRCA lump sum into account, in some cases by converting it to a weekly equivalent. View DVA's DRCA compensation rates
Service pension rates
The service pension is income support, not compensation, so it's income and assets tested. The maximum from 20 September to 31 December 2026, including the pension supplement, is $1,237.70 a fortnight for a single person and $933.00 each for a couple. Read about the service pension.
Why the figures don't compare directly
VEA payments are fortnightly pensions, DRCA permanent impairment is a lump sum, and MRCA permanent impairment is weekly with a lump sum option. The Acts measure impairment differently. If you have conditions under more than one Act, DVA includes your VEA Disability Compensation Payment or DRCA lump sum when it works out MRCA compensation, so you aren't paid above the MRCA maximum. No single table can predict your total.
Conditions already accepted under the VEA or DRCA are recognised under the MRCA without liability having to be decided again. A claim for a new condition, or for more compensation because a condition has worsened by at least 5 impairment points, goes under the MRCA. Read about the 2026 legislation changes.
Rules that are easy to miss
If you have VEA or DRCA conditions and claim MRCA permanent impairment from 1 July 2026, DVA turns your old ratings into a baseline and pays only for the increase above it, once your total is at least 5 points higher. In that calculation, old VEA conditions count as warlike or non-warlike service and old DRCA conditions as peacetime service, which has lower compensation factors. A condition accepted under both Acts is counted once, as VEA. For a DRCA baseline, when several ratings cover the same kind of loss, such as more than one leg condition, only the highest is counted. Your new MRCA payment, your VEA payment for the old conditions (as a percentage of the General Rate), any earlier MRCA PI and the weekly value of any DRCA lump sum together can't go above the MRCA maximum.
Common questions
What is the maximum DVA payout?
Under the MRCA, the maximum permanent impairment payment is $447.39 a week for 80 or more impairment points, if you have no accepted VEA or DRCA conditions. Taken as a lump sum, the amount depends on your age. A veteran at that level may also receive $115,175.42 for each eligible dependent child.
Which DVA payments are tax-free?
MRCA and DRCA permanent impairment compensation, the SRDP, the ADA, the VEA Disability Compensation Payment and compensation for dependants are tax-free. Incapacity payments are generally taxable, and so is the service pension paid on age, apart from its supplementary amount.
When do DVA rates change?
MRCA permanent impairment rates are indexed each year on 1 July. The VEA Disability Compensation Payment and the service pension are indexed twice a year, in March and September. DVA updates its rate pages when they change.
Checked against DVA's website on 25 September 2026.