The service pension is a regular income for veterans with qualifying service who are 60 or over, or permanently unable to work. You can get it earlier than the Age Pension, which starts at 67 for anyone born on or after 1 January 1957. It's income and assets tested; the maximum is $1,237.70 a fortnight for a single person from 20 September to 31 December 2026.
Who can get the service pension
As a veteran, you need to meet the residency rules, have qualifying service, and be either:
- at least 60 (Service Pension Age), or
- permanently incapacitated for work, at any age (Service Pension Invalidity)
Qualifying service usually means you were in danger from hostile enemy forces, for example in the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam or a later operation declared warlike. Australian, Commonwealth and allied veterans and mariners can qualify; Commonwealth and allied veterans have extra residency requirements. Qualifying service is decided under the Veterans' Entitlements Act (VEA), even if your service is covered by the MRCA for compensation.
Check DVA's qualifying service list
Service Pension Invalidity
Service Pension Invalidity is for veterans with qualifying service who are permanently incapacitated for work. Your service doesn't have to have caused the incapacity, and there's no minimum age.
DVA treats you as permanently incapacitated for work if you:
- are permanently blind in both eyes
- receive, or are eligible for, the Disability Compensation Payment at the special rate (TPI)
- receive, or are eligible for, the Special Rate Disability Pension under the MRCA
Otherwise, DVA assesses you. Your physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment must be rated at 40 or more impairment points under the Guide to the Assessment of Rates of Veterans' Pensions (GARP), be permanent, and stop you working more than 8 hours a week.
You can still apply for Service Pension Invalidity if you're already 60. The difference matters for tax: Service Pension Age is taxable, but Service Pension Invalidity isn't taxable until you reach Age Pension age.
Read DVA's Service Pension for veterans information
Service pension for partners
The current partner, former partner, widow or widower of a veteran with qualifying service may get Service Pension Partner. Current partners usually need to be 60, or 50 in some cases where the veteran is highly impaired. There's no minimum age if you have a dependent child or the veteran is TPI or eligible for the SRDP. If the veteran isn't yet eligible for the service pension, you need to be Age Pension age.
Read DVA's Service Pension for partners information
DVA service pension rates
Maximum fortnightly rates from 20 September to 31 December 2026, including the pension supplement:
| Situation | Maximum a fortnight |
|---|---|
| Single | $1,237.70 |
| Each member of a couple | $933.00 |
Rates are reviewed every March and September. If you're permanently blind, you get the maximum regardless of your income and assets. You may also get Rent Assistance if you pay private rent, or Remote Area Allowance, and DVA adds the Energy Supplement automatically.
How the income and assets tests work
DVA works out your rate under an income test and an assets test and pays whichever gives the lower amount. Couples are assessed on combined income and assets.
From 20 September 2026, you can get the full rate with income up to $226 a fortnight if single, or $396 a fortnight combined for a couple. Above that, the pension drops by 50 cents for each dollar (25 cents each for a couple). Income includes wages, deemed income from savings and investments, and super or overseas pensions.
The full rate is paid if your assets are at or below these limits. Your home isn't counted.
| Situation | Homeowner | Non-homeowner |
|---|---|---|
| Single | $333,000 | $600,000 |
| Couple, combined | $499,000 | $766,000 |
Above the limit, the pension drops by $0.75 a fortnight for every $250 of assets. Both tests' limits are adjusted each July.
Some payments aren't counted. The VEA Disability Compensation Payment and War Widow(er)'s Pension aren't income for the service pension. The MRCA Special Rate Disability Pension isn't counted for Service Pension Invalidity, but MRCA incapacity payments are, and compensation for lost earnings can reduce the pension. If you're 60 or over and still working, the work bonus means the first $300 a fortnight of work income isn't counted.
Read DVA's income test and assets test pages. Services Australia's free Financial Information Service (132 300) can explain how your money is assessed, and a licensed financial adviser can advise on your situation.
Cards that come with the service pension
DVA sends you a Pensioner Concession Card automatically. It gives you PBS medicines at the concession rate and access to state, territory and council concessions. See Veteran Card discounts and concessions.
Veterans with qualifying service get a Gold Card at 70. Before 70, a service pensioner can get one if they're permanently blind in both eyes, receive the Disability Compensation Payment at 50% of the general rate or more, have at least 30 MRCA impairment points from service conditions, or have income of no more than $558.80 a fortnight (single) and assets within DVA's limits. Read about Gold Card eligibility.
How to claim the service pension
- Make sure DVA has confirmed your qualifying service. If MyService doesn't show an option to claim the service pension, apply for qualifying service first. You may need service records or a discharge certificate.
- Claim online in MyService. It's faster, and you don't need to send proof of identity documents.
- If you prefer paper, use D0503 (veterans) or D0504 (partners, former partners and widows or widowers), with D0648 for your income and assets.
If you're not ready to claim yet, you can tell DVA in MyService that you plan to claim, so it can backdate your claim to the earliest possible date. A free ESO advocate can help with the claim. Find a free advocate.
Read DVA's service pension information
Telling DVA about changes
You must tell DVA about changes to your income, assets, living arrangements or relationship within 14 days, or 28 days if you live overseas or get Remote Area Allowance. If you don't, you may be overpaid and have to pay it back. Report changes in MyService, by calling 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372), or in writing. Everyday changes in your bank balance don't need reporting.
If your income, including some work income, reduces your pension to nil, it's suspended for 2 years instead of cancelled, so you don't need to make a new claim if your income drops again.
What the 1 July 2026 changes mean for the service pension
Nothing changed for the service pension. New compensation claims now go under the MRCA, but income support payments, including the service pension, continue as normal and are indexed as usual. Read about the 2026 legislation changes.
If you disagree with a decision
Service pension decisions don't go to the Veterans' Review Board. Ask DVA for a review within 3 months of receiving the decision letter, in MyService or in writing, and give your reasons. A Review Officer who didn't make the original decision looks at it again. If you still disagree, you can appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal within 3 months of the Review Officer's decision. Read about DVA reviews and appeals.
Rules that are easy to miss
Service pension if you travel or live overseas
The service pension keeps being paid if you travel or move overseas permanently. Unlike the Age Pension, it isn't cut to a proportional rate after 26 weeks. From 20 September 2026, the Pension Supplement continues for the first 12 weeks of a trip and stops straight away if you move overseas. The Veterans' Supplement and Rent Assistance continue for 26 weeks, and Remote Area Allowance for 8 weeks. There's one catch. If you come back to Australia, claim the service pension and leave again within 12 months, it can't be paid overseas unless something you couldn't have foreseen made you leave. Tell DVA before you go.
You can give away up to $10,000 a financial year, and no more than $30,000 over 5 financial years, without it affecting your pension. For a couple, those limits are combined, not per person. Anything over the limits is counted as an asset, and deemed to earn income, for 5 years from the date of the gift, including gifts made in the 5 years before you claim. If the money is given back to you, tell DVA and it stops being counted from then.
If your partner, parent, brother, sister or child lives rent-free or on low rent in a property you own, DVA doesn't count the rent you could have charged as income. This only applies when the property is used as a home, not for a business. The property itself is still counted under the assets test unless it's your own home.
If you're a veteran on the service pension, super that's still in the accumulation phase isn't counted until you turn 60. If you get Service Pension Partner, it isn't counted until you reach Age Pension age. If your partner isn't on a pension, their super isn't counted until they reach Age Pension age, even if they never claim a pension. If you take money out of super and invest it elsewhere, it's counted in the usual way.
If you or your partner move into residential aged care, or ill health means you have to live apart for the long term, tell DVA. You'll each be paid the higher single rate, although your income and assets are still assessed against the couple limits. The home you left isn't counted as an asset for 2 years from the day you've both moved out. Get financial advice before you sell it.
Getting part of your pension early
If you need money for something unexpected, such as a car repair or a new fridge, you can ask DVA for a lump sum advance. It's interest-free, it's repaid from your payments over the next 13 fortnights, and you don't have to say what it's for. From 20 September 2026, the most you can get is $1,764.15 if you're single, or $1,329.90 each for a couple. You need to have been paid by DVA or Centrelink for the past 3 months and be in Australia when you apply. Disability Compensation Payment and war widow(er)'s pension recipients can ask as well.
If you own property in Australia, DVA's Home Equity Access Scheme lets you borrow against it once you're 60 and eligible for the service pension, even if your income or assets reduce your pension to nil. Your pension and loan together can be up to 150% of the maximum pension rate a fortnight, and you can take up to 2 lump sums a year. Interest is 3.95% a year, compounding, and you'll never owe more than your share of the property is worth. If your partner still lives in the home after you die, DVA waits until they die or sell it. Get independent advice before you apply.
Common questions
Does a DVA pension affect the Age Pension?
You can't get the service pension and the Age Pension at the same time; you get one or the other. A disability pension is different. The Disability Compensation Payment isn't counted as income for the Age Pension, and if you receive it you can have your Age Pension paid by DVA instead of Services Australia.
Checked against DVA's website on 25 September 2026.