Now lawDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 27 Nov 2025

Ten fixes close gaps in veterans' compensation

This law makes ten clean-up changes to payments for hurt veterans. They cover appeals, payments for widows and children, funerals, school help, extra disability payments and medical care.

Official name: Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Serving Defence Force members who appeal a claim: The head of the Defence Force is told about the appeal and the result. The head can join the case.
• Widows, widowers and children of veterans: If they were already paid, they do not have to prove again that they qualify after 1 July 2026. They cannot be paid twice.
• Veterans on the Additional Disablement Amount, an extra payment for the most disabled veterans: They get a Gold Card, which pays for care of all health problems. Their partners can get a pension from age 50.
• Holders of the Victoria Cross, Australia's top bravery medal, and other medals: Their medal allowance does not cut their other payments.

Three laws cover veterans' claims

Veterans hurt by their time in the Australian Defence Force can claim payments and care. This is called compensation.

Right now, three different laws cover this. Which one applies depends on when you served. They are the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988, and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

This article calls the first one the 1986 law. It calls the last one the 2004 law.

A 2025 law, called the Simplification Act, changes this. From 1 July 2026, all new claims are decided under an improved 2004 law. The government asked veterans and families about the plan between 2022 and 2024.

An earlier clean-up law fixed four problems. This second one fixes ten more. Veterans' Affairs Minister Matt Keogh brought it in. The government says it matches what was meant all along.

Appeals by serving members

The Veterans' Review Board checks decisions on veterans' claims again. It is like a court, but less formal.

Under the new system, the head of the Defence Force can choose to join a review about a serving member. The problem was that nobody had to tell the head.

Part 1 fixes this. The Board must tell the head when a serving member appeals about an injury, illness or death in service.

The head can join by writing to the Board. The Board must also send the head its decision.

Part 1 also drops a rule about travel costs for Board hearings. Claims for these used to go to the Board. Now they go to a place the Repatriation Commission approves. That commission runs veterans' payments.

Help for families after death

When a veteran dies because of their service, their partner and children can get payments. Part 2 sets clear rules for deaths around the time of the switch.

Say a family already got payments for a death before 1 July 2026. They do not need to prove again that they qualify.

Say a family still has a claim open under an old law. That claim is decided first.

A family cannot be paid twice for the same death. This holds even if one payment has been cut to nothing.

For deaths on or after 1 July 2026, a partner can get an extra lump sum under the 2004 law. This holds even if they get a pension under the 1986 law straight away. Once the 2004 payment is granted, the 1986 pension stops.

Some deaths before 1 July 2026 are linked only to older service under the 1986 law. For these, the extra lump sum is not paid.

Funeral payments

There is a higher and a lower rate of funeral payment. Part 3 makes clear the family gets the higher rate when they qualify for it. This holds even if they also meet the test for the lower rate.

The rules now cover deaths from injuries caused by war and by Defence service. They also cover veterans who got some pensions under one part of the 1986 law.

Education help for children

A scheme under the 2004 law helps pay for the schooling of some veterans' children. Some veterans moving from the old laws had to pass an extra test to unlock it.

Part 4 says that extra test only applies in one case. That is when the child qualifies because the veteran's injuries score 80 points or more.

It does not apply when the veteran gets the Special Rate Disability Pension or the Additional Disablement Amount. Both are payments for veterans with serious disabilities.

Extra pay for most disabled

The Additional Disablement Amount is an extra payment for veterans with very severe disabilities. Part 5 clears up who can get it.

Some veterans get a higher pension under section 27 of the 1986 law. They can now get the extra payment too. The extra payment is not cut because of the section 27 amount.

But the total cannot go above the top rate under the 1986 law, called the Special Rate.

Everyone on the extra payment gets care for all health problems through a Veteran Gold Card. Their partners can get a Partner Service Pension, a pension for veterans' partners, from age 50.

Medal allowances and income support

Some veterans get an allowance for a Victoria Cross or other bravery medals. Part 6 says these do not count as income when working out other help under the 1986 law.

Say a veteran gets a medal allowance and a pension to help with living costs. The allowance will not shrink the pension.

Harm from medical treatment

Part 7 covers harm from medical care. You can claim if care the Defence Force gave you while serving caused a new injury or made one worse. It does not matter why the care was given.

Say the Defence Force gave you care that was not for an injury at all, and it caused lasting harm. You can claim for that harm.

You can also still claim for harm caused by care from the Department of Veterans' Affairs for an earlier service injury.

Treatment and payment deductions

Some health care is free for certain problems, such as mental health. You do not have to prove your service caused them.

Part 8 keeps this going for serving members as it moves from the 1986 law to the 2004 law. The head of the Defence Force can still be told about these claims.

Part 9 lets veterans ask for money to be taken out of their regular payments, weekly or fortnightly. It can go to rent or a home loan with a state housing body. It can also go to the tax office.

Start date

Part 10 sets which claims the changes apply to. Most parts start when the matching parts of the Simplification Act start. That is set for 1 July 2026.

New funeral rules apply to claims made from 1 July 2026, whatever the date of death.

The bill was put to the House of Representatives, the larger house of Parliament, on 27 November 2025. The House made one change the government asked for. It passed the bill on 4 February 2026.

The Senate, the second house of Parliament, passed it on 1 April 2026. The Governor-General, the King's stand-in, signed it into law that same day. It became Act No. 31 of 2026.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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