Aids, Equipment, Assistance Dogs, Footwear, Hearing and Glasses

The single most expensive mistake. Across hearing devices, optical upgrades and footwear, DVA’s position is consistent: prior approval comes before purchase. On hearing specifically, DVA is blunt — “During the appointment do NOT pay for a hearing device. We do not reimburse for hearing devices already purchased.” If you have paid, you have very likely paid for good.

The Rehabilitation Appliances Program (RAP)

RAP supplies aids, equipment and modifications to meet an assessed clinical need — to minimise the impact of disability, keep you living safely and independently, help you participate in the community, and support your treatment or rehabilitation plan.

Eligibility: an assessed clinical need plus either a Gold Card (Veteran Card – All Conditions), or a White Card (Veteran Card – Specific Conditions) where the equipment is for a condition your card covers. Some items have further criteria.

What RAP covers

The RAP National Schedule of Equipment spans: assistive listening and tinnitus devices; speech and communication devices; non-optical low vision appliances; cognition and memory devices; swallowing and feeding appliances; bathing, toileting, continence and personal hygiene products; diabetes products; assistance dogs; alarm and communication appliances; respiratory home therapy including oxygen and positive airway pressure machines; beds and related appliances; chairs and supports; lifting devices; adaptive household appliances; mobility devices from walking frames to electric wheelchairs; orthoses and prostheses; footwear not obtained through the Medical Grade Footwear Program; rehabilitation exercise and treatment machines; palliative care appliances; stoma appliances; and home modifications, both non-complex and complex. Vehicle modifications are also funded — hoists, rotating seats, wheelchair transport devices, customised driving controls.

Who prescribes

The RAP Schedule specifies which assessing health provider can prescribe each item — a GP, medical specialist, registered nurse or allied health professional. One important gate: before an allied health professional can prescribe (optical, dental and hearing excepted) you must have a valid referral from a GP, a medical specialist, or a hospital health professional as part of discharge. Where an allied health professional is unavailable in a rural or remote area, a GP or specialist can prescribe instead.

Prior DVA approval is required where the Schedule says so, where the item exceeds a financial or quantity limit, where you hold a White Card (to confirm alignment with accepted conditions), where you are in residential aged care and the facility would normally supply the item, or where more items are requested than usual.

For contracted items, the prescriber sends the RAP form to a contracted supplier, who obtains DVA approval and arranges free delivery. The provider line is 1800 550 457.

Assistance dogs

DVA funds four types: psychiatric assistance dogs, guide dogs, hearing dogs and mobility/service dogs (RAP items BH01–BH05). The standard is real — dogs are trained in obedience, must perform at least three defined tasks that mitigate the handler’s impairment, and must pass a Public Access Test, with the definition anchored to s 9 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Assistance Dogs International standards.

Base eligibility

An assessed clinical need, a Gold or White Card, and assessment as clinically stable and suitable — which requires adequate living arrangements and support networks, emotional resilience and the ability to undertake intensive training, no history of domestic violence or animal abuse by any household member, no hospital admission for suicide attempt or self-harm in the past 12 months, and no misuse of drugs or alcohol in the past 12 months.

Condition-specific

Psychiatric assistance dogs: you must have an accepted condition or a diagnosis of PTSD from a psychiatrist, and be undergoing treatment with a psychiatrist or psychologist for PTSD for at least three months.
Guide, hearing and mobility dogs: supplied only where the clinical need arises from a service-caused injury or disease — and that applies to both Gold and White Card holders.

How to apply, and the practical realities

Your treating clinician completes the request, not you — form D9356 — Request for an assistance dog. Who can prescribe depends on the dog: a psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health OT or mental health social worker for psychiatric dogs; a low vision clinic or specialist for guide dogs; an audiologist, OT or audiometrist for hearing dogs; an OT plus an appropriate specialist for mobility dogs. Psychiatric requests include a 12-question WHODAS completed by the veteran.

All assistance dogs need prior approval via a two-step process: conditional approval on the paperwork, then an in-home suitability assessment by a DVA-contracted supplier. Then the realities worth knowing before you get your hopes up:

Five contracted psychiatric assistance dog providers nationally.
Handler and dog training takes 18 months to two years.
One assistance dog at a time, including privately sourced dogs.
No companion or emotional support dogs — the task-trained standard is the line.
DVA will not reimburse privately sourced or privately trained dogs, and will not fund home modifications such as fencing to make a home suitable.
Working life is 8–11 years; apply for a replacement 18–24 months before retirement.
Aged care, retirement village or lifestyle park residents need an “in principle agreement” letter from the operator first.

Medical grade footwear — a separate program

Medical grade footwear is not part of RAP, and CLIK is explicit that it cannot be provided through the rehabilitation provisions. RAP covers only temporary and post-operative footwear.

What it is for: where suitable everyday shoes cannot fit or be modified because of a deformity or abnormality of the foot or ankle. Covers ready-made extra-depth or extra-width footwear and custom-made footwear from a contracted supplier.

Not covered: everyday retail footwear (sneakers, casual, formal), slippers, slip-ons, open-toed, high-heeled or “orthotic” shoes, and shoes whose primary purpose is to accommodate an orthosis.

Who prescribes: a podiatrist, or a medical specialist such as an orthopaedic surgeon, rehabilitation physician or rheumatologist. A podiatrist needs a valid GP referral first — so the GP is the entry point but does not prescribe the footwear. The provider completes Section A of form D0688 and sends it to a contracted supplier. A fit and quality check follows within one to two months.

Prior approval is needed for custom-made footwear, recreational footwear, supply above two pairs, repairs not in the fee schedule, and all White Card holders. Recreational medical grade footwear — bowling or golf shoes, for instance — is available as an additional pair if you already use a pair and participate in the sport.

We have deliberately not published a “pairs per year” figure. DVA’s page states only that prior approval is required above two pairs; the actual supply limits live in the National Guideline, and we would rather say we do not know than print a number you might rely on.

Hearing services — mostly not DVA

This surprises people. The main pathway is the Commonwealth Hearing Services Program (HSP), not DVA: “Most of your hearing needs can be met through the Hearing Services Program. The HSP offers fully subsidised hearing aids.” DVA covers additional devices or services beyond that.

At no cost through HSP: the initial appointment, prescribed hearing devices, training to use them, follow-up rehabilitation and ongoing support, and repairs, maintenance and batteries.

DVA-funded hearing treatment eligibility: a Gold Card, or a White Card with hearing loss or tinnitus as an accepted condition.

No GP referral is needed for hearing aids — book directly with a hearing provider, who prescribes and seeks approval. A GP referral is needed for the tinnitus pathway, to an audiologist or ENT specialist.

Assistive Listening Devices come at no cost including repairs and replacements — induction loops, TV headsets, FM and microphone systems, signal-light doorbells, smoke alarm packages, wireless streaming and tinnitus devices.

And again: partially-subsidised aids can carry considerable out-of-pocket costs DVA will not reimburse. Get approval before you buy.

Glasses and optical — the actual frequencies

Eligibility: assessed clinical need plus a Veteran Card – All Conditions, or a Veteran Card – Specific Conditions where treatment is for an accepted condition that affects your vision.

One appointment with an optometrist or ophthalmologist every three years if under 65, or every year if 65 or over.
Every two years, DVA can pay for one pair of multifocals, or one pair of reading glasses and one pair of distance glasses.
More frequent services require your optometrist or ophthalmologist to seek DVA approval where needs have changed significantly.

No GP referral needed for an optometrist — any optometrist registered as a DVA provider. An ophthalmologist does require a referral from a GP or optometrist. Frames are funded within DVA price limits; any upgrade is out of pocket and cannot be reimbursed. In most cases DVA does not fund polarised prescription sunglasses, though clip-ons or fit-overs can be funded instead.

The thread running through all of it

Every one of these programs turns on two things: a clinically assessed need, and what your card covers. Gold Card holders are assessed on need alone. White Card holders get the item only where it relates to an accepted condition — which is why prior approval is required for every White Card RAP and footwear request.

Which puts the accepted-conditions list at the centre of the whole picture. A veteran with three accepted conditions and twelve documented in their record is not just under-compensated; they are under-equipped, because the equipment follows the acceptance. If nobody has read your file properly, that is the place to start — see chart reviews and diagnostic assessments.

Talk to us

Call 0429 146 039 or email reception@vhc.org.au — Veterans Health Centre, Ipswich, Queensland.

Aids, Equipment, Assistance Dogs, Footwear, Hearing and Glasses: What DVA Funds