When a veteran who was getting a DVA pension or compensation dies, DVA may make a one-off bereavement payment that is not taxed, to help with the costs that follow and, for a partner, with the change in household money once the veteran’s payments stop. If the veteran was one of a couple and was paid under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act, the partner usually does not need to apply: DVA pays once it is told of the death. A bereavement payment under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act has to be claimed, as set out below.
General informationThis is general information, not financial advice. DVA’s pages on bereavement payments under the VEA and under the MRCA are the official places to check, and DVA answers on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372) .
Telling DVA
Call or email. DVA asks a veteran’s family, the executor or another responsible person to phone its Veterans Access Network, 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372) or to email Bereavement.SA@dva.gov.au.
Why the timing matters. Prompt notice means the person’s entitlements, and those of their partner and dependants, are dealt with quickly, and an overpayment is less likely. DVA also says its staff try not to intrude with an offer of money soon after a death, so it asks families to tell it as soon as they feel able.
What can go wrong. Under the MRCA, if DVA is not told, weekly compensation can keep being paid after the death, and anything paid beyond 12 weeks’ worth of bereavement entitlement may have to be recovered.
Services Australia adds that where the person or their partner was getting DVA payments, the defence force may help with some costs, or arrange the funeral service if there is to be one.
Under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act
DVA’s VEA page covers veterans who were already getting a pension or compensation under that Act before they died. It counts people as a couple if they lived together, or lived apart only because one or both were ill or frail, or in respite care when the death happened.
| The veteran | Paid to | What DVA describes |
|---|---|---|
| One of a couple, on an income support pension, with the partner also on a Service Pension, Income Support Supplement or Age Pension | The partner | The veteran’s pension entitlements carry on for 98 days from the death, mostly as one lump sum: the gap between the old combined couple rates and the partner’s new single rate. Nothing extra is paid if the single rate is as high or higher. |
| One of a couple, on a Disability Compensation Payment | The partner | An amount equal to 6 fortnightly instalments at the veteran’s rate before death |
| Single, on an income support pension | The estate | Pension entitlements continue for 14 days |
| Single, on a Disability Compensation Payment at the Special rate (TPI) or the Extreme Disablement Adjustment rate, and died in needy circumstances | The estate | An amount equal to 6 fortnightly instalments; claimed on Form D9145 within 12 months of the death |
“Needy circumstances” has a set meaning here: the estate cannot cover everything it owes, the funeral included. For a couple living apart because of illness, DVA works the payment out at the ordinary partnered rate. The lump sum goes automatically into the account the partner’s pension is paid into, and bereavement payments are not counted as income for tax. A veteran who had both a Disability Compensation Payment and an income support payment may attract a bereavement payment for each.
Under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act
Under the MRCA, the payment goes to a wholly dependent partner, where the serving or former member was getting, or was entitled to, incapacity payments, permanent impairment periodic payments, the Special Rate Disability Pension or the Additional Disablement Amount when they died. It equals 12 instalments of those payments.
- A partner, or an eligible young person, who lived with the member when they died is treated as wholly dependent.
- If more than one partner depended on the member, the payment is divided between them according to how much support each one lost.
- With no wholly dependent partner, it can go to the member’s dependent child or children.
- It is not paid where a permanent impairment entitlement was taken as a lump sum, or incapacity payments were redeemed as a lump sum.
This one has to be claimed, on DVA Form D2053. A partner may instead send a signed letter saying the member has died, with evidence that they lived together and that the partner relied wholly on the member financially; a properly completed statutory declaration can serve as that evidence. Dependants who receive benefits automatically under the VEA can also choose to claim under the MRCA, which DVA says may bring an additional lump sum and higher funeral payments.
Other help DVA lists
- Pensions for dependants. A partner may be eligible for a Wholly Dependent Partner pension and a dependent child for an Eligible Young Person pension; people receiving either may also receive a Veteran Card (All Conditions), which entitles them to free health care.
- Income Support Supplement for a war widow or widower, based on income and assets.
- The funeral itself. DVA also pays towards funeral costs in some cases: up to $3,000 under the VEA as at October 2026, and, from 1 July 2026, at a lower and a higher rate under the MRCA.
- Official commemoration, for certain groups of veterans, through standard memorials provided by the Office of Australian War Graves.
- Aids and equipment supplied to the veteran, which DVA suggests checking whether they can be returned, through the supplier named on the item.
Counselling for the family
Open Arms, Veterans and Families Counselling, offers free and confidential support around the clock to current and former Defence Force members and their families, on 1800 011 046 . Its counsellors see individuals, couples and families.
Grief more broadly, and helping a child through it, is in grief, and where support starts. A veteran’s partner on a Centrelink payment will find its rules in Services Australia after a death.