When the veteran's paperwork is a different set of forms

If the person is a veteran or war widow(er), the aged-care paperwork has an extra layer the standard forms do not tell you about. The first trap is the nominee. You may have already sorted a Centrelink nominee, and reasonably assumed it covers everything — it does not. For someone who is a Department of Veterans' Affairs customer, aged-care nominee authority runs through a separate form, the Aged Care Request for a Nominee for DVA customers (form AC019). Set up the Centrelink side and miss this one, and you can still find yourself unable to act on the aged-care costs.

The second thing nobody explains is that DVA payments are treated differently in the aged-care means assessment, and not in a way you can guess. Some are exempt and some are counted. A Disability Compensation Payment is not counted as income; a war widow(er)'s pension usually is counted — unless the person has Qualifying Service, in which case it is exempt. We do not calculate any of this, and you should not try to eyeball it either: the point is only to know the veteran's assessment does not work like everyone else's, so you ask DVA and Services Australia to confirm how their specific payments are treated rather than assuming the standard rules apply.

There is also a supplement most families never hear of: a veterans' supplement for aged care is paid automatically, without a separate application, once eligibility is confirmed between DVA and Services Australia — so it is worth making sure the aged-care provider knows the person is a DVA customer, so it flows through.

One timing note that matters right now: from 1 July 2026 the older veterans' compensation laws (the VEA and DRCA) closed to new claims, and new claims are assessed under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. Existing payments continue. If you are reading older guidance elsewhere, check its date — a lot of what is written about DVA payments predates this change.