Information if you're affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).
Claim travel expenses under the RTS
Last updated:
2 September 2020
If you have paid to travel to medical appointments, or to get medical evidence, we may reimburse some of the costs. We may also help with the costs of attending any hearings if you have asked us to review a decision.
On this page
- Travel for treatment during COVID-19 pandemic
- The repatriation transport scheme (RTS)
- Who we may reimburse
- What we may reimburse
- Travelling for treatment
- Rates
- If you travel with an attendant
- Costs for your attendant while you are in hospital
- Travel for treatment within Australia
- Travel to Australia if you live overseas
- How to apply
- Contact numbers
Travel for treatment during COVID-19 pandemic
If you are required by your health professional to travel interstate to seek medical treatment and are subsequently subject to COVID-19 related quarantine/isolation costs, DVA may be able to assist with those costs. Please call 1800 550 455 for more information.
The repatriation transport scheme (RTS)
The RTS is a program to help eligible DVA clients and their attendant get to treatment that is both
- approved by us
- within Australia
Under the RTS, you may be eligible for:
- pre-arranged and pre-paid transport to and from medical appointments
- free transport in an ambulance to and from medical appointments
Who we may reimburse
We may reimburse your travel costs if you hold either 1 of these cards under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA):
- a Veteran Gold Card
- a Veteran White Card, if your costs relate to an accepted service-related condition
We may also reimburse your travel costs if you travelled to receive treatment under the non-liability health care (NLHC) for any of the following conditions:
- malignant cancer (neoplasia)
- pulmonary tuberculosis
- any mental health condition (including substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder)
Other Acts
If you have a Gold or White Card under a different legislation, see Reimbursing travel expenses under MRCA or DRCA for details on how we can help.
Contact us to discuss your transport options if we treat you under either:
- the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests and British Commonwealth Occupation Force (Treatment) Act 2006
- the Treatment Benefits (Special Access) Act 2019
What we may reimburse
Under the RTS we may reimburse some of your travel costs, including:
- transport
- accommodation
We may reimburse some of the costs if you travelled to:
- attend a health services appointment for treatment we pay for
- get medical evidence to support your claim for a Disability Pension
- get medical evidence to support your claim for Invalidity Service Pension or Income Support Supplement due to invalidity
- attend the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a VEA matter or a Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) hearing
- get medical evidence for the VRB or the Specialist Medical Review Council (SMRC)
Transport costs we may reimburse
We may reimburse some of your transport costs, including:
- costs if you travelled by a private vehicle by yourself, with a family member or a friend
- public transport
- community transport
- vehicle ferries
- parking
- road tolls
If it is the most cost-effective mode of transport, we may reimburse you for travel by:
- a non-emergency ambulance
- an aeroplane
- a taxi or hire car
Accommodation allowance we may pay
We may reimburse part of your accommodation expenses if either:
- you had to travel more than 250km (one way) for your treatment
- an overnight stay is necessary due to the circumstances of your treatment, regardless of how far you had to travel
Examples of when we may pay an accommodation allowance include, but are not limited to:
- your health provider needs you to stay close by for observation
- you had surgery and are unable to travel long distances
- you had an appointment that is early in the morning or late in the afternoon
- you are given medication that stops you from making a return trip
We may reimburse accommodation expenses in other situations. Contact us to discuss.
Accommodation and your meal allowance
When we reimburse an accommodation allowance for the night, a separate meal allowance is not payable. This is because we factor the cost of your meals into the accommodation allowance.
You may be eligible for a meal allowance for the day you check out of your accommodation.
Meal costs we may reimburse
We may pay a meal allowance if you travelled more than 50km one way.
Travelling for treatment
When you are travelling for treatment, we may look at the distance between your residence and your closest practical provider (CPP).
Your residence is your permanent or temporary location at the time of treatment.
Your CPP is the health provider who:
- is closest to your residence
- can provide appropriate treatment
- we recognise as an approved provider
If the distance from your residence to your CPP is 50km or less, we will reimburse you for the distance travelled.
We will reimburse you to a distance equal to the CPP or a 100km return trip, whichever is the greater, if you are treated by a health provider who is both:
- not your CPP
- more than 50km (one way) from your residence
Rates
Transport
If you travelled by a private vehicle, we may reimburse:
- $0.368c per km that you travelled
If you travelled with an attendant, we will only reimburse this cost once.
We may reimburse the actual fare that you paid if you travelled by:
- public transport
- community transport
- an aeroplane
- a taxi
If you travelled with an attendant, we may reimburse the fare that each of you paid.
Accommodation allowance
The amount we may reimburse will depend on:
- the type of room you stayed in
- if you stayed in a room by yourself or with your attendant
Commercial accommodation allowance if you and your attendant shared the same room:
- $247.00 per night
Commercial accommodation allowance in a capital city:
- $180.40 per night
- We can reimburse this amount for you, or for you and your attendant if you each stayed in a separate room
Commercial accommodation allowance not in a capital city:
- $151.90 per night
- We can reimburse this amount for you, or for you and your attendant if you each stayed in a separate room
Subsidised accommodation allowance:
- $94.80 per night
- We can reimburse this amount for you, or for you and your attendant if you each stayed in a separate room
Private accommodation allowance:
- $47.40 per night
- We can reimburse this amount for you, or for you and your attendant if you each stayed in a separate room
Meal allowances
If you travelled more than 50km one way but less than 200km one way from home to the treatment location:
- $15.10 per day
- We can reimburse this amount for you, or for you and your attendant
If you travelled more than 200km one way from home to the treatment location:
- $30.70 per day
- We can reimburse this amount for you, or for you and your attendant
If you travel with an attendant
An attendant is someone who is:
- responsible
- competent
- physically able to help you while you are travelling
They do not need to have any medical qualifications or training.
We are not able to reimburse your attendant for:
- travel between their house and your own
- any lost wages
We do not reimburse costs for a qualified attendant such as a nurse escort.
Costs for your attendant while you are in hospital
If you are admitted to hospital while travelling with your attendant, we may reimburse your attendant for either:
- a return trip to their residence at the time of your admission and a return trip to the hospital at the time you are discharged
- a contribution towards their accommodation if they stay in commercial, subsidised or private accommodation while you are in hospital
If they stay in accommodation, we can contribute to these costs. We call this a contributing allowance. We do not take the actual cost of accommodation into consideration when we calculate this cost.
The contributing allowance we may pay them will be the lesser of either:
- the kilometre allowance we would have reimbursed for their trip home and return trip to the hospital
- the accommodation allowance payable for the time you are in hospital
Your attendant will not be reimbursed for any travel costs, including parking, to visit you while you are in hospital.
Example of a contributing allowance
You are admitted to hospital for 2 nights.
Your attendant stays in commercial accommodation for those 2 nights, rather than returning home.
The distance from the hospital to your attendants home is 500km (return).
If they drove home, we would reimburse them $184.00 ($0.368c per km x 500km).
The usual reimbursement amount for staying in commercial accommodation for 2 nights is $360.80 ($180.40 x 2 nights).
In this example, we would contribute 184.00 towards your attendant's accommodation.
Travel for treatment within Australia
We recommend that you take out travel insurance when travelling interstate. This is because we cannot reimburse you for:
- accommodation costs if you fall ill or get injured and have to extend your stay to receive treatment
- transport home if you fall seriously ill and you cannot continue your journey
We will not pay for the accommodation expenses for any travelling companion if you are admitted to hospital.
Gold Card holders
If you have a Gold Card and you need to see a doctor or you get sick while you travel, we may reimburse you for:
- the cost of transport (including in an ambulance) to either the closest health provider or an emergency health care facility
- the cost to travel to your temporary location after treatment or discharge
White Card holders
If you are a White Card holder, we will only pay for your travel to treatment for your accepted disabilities.
After treatment or discharge we may reimburse you for the cost to travel to your temporary location.
Travel to Australia if you live overseas
Contact us to discuss your individual entitlements.
How to apply
You can apply by either:
- your MyService account
- using a paper form
If you do not have a MyService or you choose to use a paper form you will need to use:
Claim form D0800 “Claim for Travelling Expenses” for travel relating to:
- a health services appointment for treatment we pay for
- a claim for Disability Pension
- a claim for Invalidity Service Pension or Income Support Supplement due to invalidity
- a medical examination that we requested under MRCA and DRCA
- treatment under the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests and British Commonwealth Occupation Force (Treatment) Act 2006
Claim form D0803 “Application for Travelling Expenses in connection with a Review” if you travelled to:
- attend the AAT or a VRB hearing
- get medical evidence for the VRB or the SMRC
You have 12 months from the completion of your travel to submit your claim.
Receipts
You and your attendant need to keep receipts for:
- any transport if the cost is $30 or more for a return trip
- parking expenses of $30 or more per return trip
- commercial or subsidised accommodation
You do not need to keep receipts for:
- road tolls
- private vehicle costs
- meals
- private accommodation
You need to keep the receipts for 4 months from the date we process your claim. We may ask you to present the receipts during this time.
Contact numbers
Our travel team can help you if you are unable to pay for your travel costs upfront. You can call them on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372) during business hours.
You can call us on 1800 550 455 if:
- you are travelling a long distance
- you need us to book transport for you