Veteran Rehabilitation Services
Before proceeding to open a relationship with DVA, RAAF Association advice is the seek the counsel of a qualified Advocate to advice you on you entitlements and how to proceed. Interfacing with DVA can be a complicated process and without qualified advice, you can end up confused and not achieving justified outcomes. Contact with an Advocate can be arranged through Air Force Association and many Ex Service organisations.
Rehabilitation Services
Rehabilitation support and services provided by DVA are designed to help former ADF members, cadets and declared members to adapt, manage and recover following their service-related injury or disease. The aim is to wherever possible, get you back to the same physical and psychological state, and the same social, vocational and educational status as you had before being injured or becoming ill. The program is administered under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) and Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA).
To aid recovery and wellbeing rehabilitation support and services are provided through:
- medical management rehabilitation - this can include assistance to help you understand medical information, co-ordinate treatment appointments, follow treatment programs and track your progress to improve the outcome of your medical treatment;
- psychosocial rehabilitation - this can help you to manage and live a better quality of life which can also assist you to accomplish your goals. Services available may help you to better manage issues that arise day-to-day and to get more from your life be that family, friends or the wider community.
- vocational rehabilitation - provides targeted assistance, based on your needs, to help you achieve meaningful and sustainable employment.
The Veterans' Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme (VVRS) provided under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) is a voluntary vocational rehabilitation scheme to help eligible veterans who:
- need special assistance to return to paid work,
- need to increase their work hours,
- are at risk of losing their job,
- are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their employment, or
- require help with job-seeking activities.
The scheme can assist those who need to upgrade their skills or undergo short term retraining to gain employment.
For further information please see Rehabilitation or Veterans' Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme (VVRS).