DVA guide
No jargon for its own sake, no acronym left unexplained. This is what you actually need to understand about cards, points, dental entitlements and the changes that came into effect on 1 July 2026.
Your card
The card in your wallet determines what treatment DVA funds. For dental, the difference between Gold and White is the single most consequential thing to understand.
Generally requires 60 or more combined impairment points under MRCA, or the Special Rate Disability Pension.
The entry point for most veterans. Each condition has to be claimed and accepted individually.
Held by certain Commonwealth and Allied veterans. Not a treatment card.
Impairment points
Impairment points are how DVA measures the lasting effect of your accepted conditions. The critical feature is that they combine.
Generally the minimum combined impairment required for an initial MRCA permanent impairment entitlement.
Generally required for Gold Card eligibility under MRCA, or alternatively the Special Rate Disability Pension.
Under GARP M, impairment from each accepted condition is assessed and then combined: not simply added, but aggregated so that the total reflects your overall level of impairment. A dental condition contributing points can move your total in a way that matters, particularly if you are sitting close to a threshold.
This is why veterans who assume "it's only teeth" often leave the most accessible points on the table. The dental conditions are frequently the easiest remaining ones to evidence, because the damage is physically visible and objectively measurable.
Changed 1 July 2026
The Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 consolidated three separate compensation schemes into one. It took effect on 1 July 2026 and it changes how every new claim is assessed.
The VEA and DRCA are closed to new claims. Every new initial liability, permanent impairment, incapacity and rehabilitation claim lodged from 1 July 2026 is assessed under an improved MRCA, regardless of when you served.
All eligible veterans can now claim MRCA permanent impairment, including for the worsening of existing VEA or DRCA accepted conditions. For VEA veterans this replaces the old Application for Increase process.
Claims lodged before 1 July 2026 remain valid and are decided under the Act they were lodged under. Payments already being received are grandparented and continue uninterrupted.
The changes open new routes to Gold Card eligibility, including for DRCA veterans who previously had no pathway.
If you served in the VEA era and have accepted conditions, this is the most significant thing to come out of the changes. You now have a permanent impairment pathway you did not have before, and dental conditions are among the most commonly unclaimed and most readily evidenced additions to an impairment assessment.
If you have been told at some point that there was no point pursuing something further, that advice may simply be out of date now.
Talk to us about your situationGlossary
The DVA system runs on abbreviations. Here is what they all mean, without assuming you already know.
Official DVA information is available at dva.gov.au. Statements of Principles are published by the Repatriation Medical Authority at clik.dva.gov.au. This guide is general information only and is not legal or clinical advice.
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