How to Access Your DVA Medical Records

“DVA medical records” — what that actually means

Veterans say “my DVA medical records” to mean the file DVA has on them. DVA itself calls all of this personal information, and it covers considerably more than medical notes:

• Determination letters — every decision DVA has made on your claims, and the reasons.
• Impairment reports — the assessments behind your permanent impairment ratings.
• Applications and claims, together with the department’s assessment of them.
• Medical or service records — but only where DVA previously received them from you or from Defence.
• Payments history and schedules.
• Records of contact between you (or your representative) and the department.

Read that list again with an appeal in mind. The determination letter and the impairment report are the two documents that tell you exactly what DVA decided and on what basis — which factor was found not satisfied, which GARP table was applied, what evidence the delegate relied on. If a claim has been refused or an impairment under-rated, this file is where the appeal starts.

The distinction that wastes the most time

DVA does not hold your service medical record unless it has already been given one. DVA says this plainly: it only holds records previously provided to it. Your complete Defence health file — every RAP visit, audiogram and psychology note from your time in uniform — lives with the Department of Defence, and you request it through Defence, not DVA. MyService shows a service history summary only.

So the practical rule: for what DVA decided, ask DVA. For what happened to your body during service, ask Defence — the full walkthrough is here: how to access your ADF medical records. For a claim, you usually want both.

Three ways in, depending on what you need

1. A current claim — check MyService first

For a claim lodged through MyService you can already see your personal details, your medical practitioners, the claim’s progress and your accepted conditions online. Sign in through myGov. If you have a claim under way, you also have a specific legal right to the documents relating to it — section 331 of the MRCA and section 59 of the DRCA.

2. A quick question — ring your delegate

The delegate assigned to a current claim can tell you where it stands and what is on file for it. Their name and direct number are usually on recent DVA letters, or call 1800 838 372 and quote the delegate’s position number. Delegates generally cannot discuss past claims — for those, use a PIR.

3. Everything else — lodge a Personal Information Request

The PIR is the workhorse. It is free, informal — no legal wording, no statement of reasons — and DVA aims to answer within 30 days. Sometimes the answer is as simple as an email or a phone conversation. Three ways to lodge it:

• Webform (easiest): dva.gov.au/personal-information-request-form
• Email: a completed Information Access Application form (D8601) to Information.Access@dva.gov.au
• Post: the same form to Information Access Unit, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001

Be specific about what you want — “all determination letters and impairment assessment reports for my PI claim decided in 2024, and the medical evidence relied on” gets a faster, more complete answer than “my file”. If the scope is unclear or enormous, DVA will ring you to narrow it, which costs you days.

Asking on someone else’s behalf

DVA releases a veteran’s information to a family member or advocate only with the veteran’s informed consent, plus proof of the requester’s identity. For a veteran who has died, an advocate or representative uses form D9394; a family member or someone acting with the client’s authority uses form D8601.

If what comes back is not enough

There is no formal review right on a PIR. If the response is inadequate — documents missing, scope not met — the escalation is a Freedom of Information request: made in writing under the FOI Act 1982, stating what you want with enough detail for DVA to find it, with a return address. FOI is slower and more formal, which is exactly why DVA suggests starting with the PIR; most people never need the FOI step. Details are on DVA’s accessing information pages.

What to do with the file once you have it

If your claims are running smoothly, the file is mostly peace of mind. Where it earns its keep is when something has gone wrong:

• A refused claim. The determination letter names the Statement of Principles factor the delegate found unsatisfied. That single sentence tells you precisely what medical evidence the VRB appeal has to supply.
• An under-rated impairment. The impairment report shows which GARP tables were applied and how. We review these point by point — every table, every rating, every combined value — and document the errors.
• An incomplete picture. Set the DVA file beside your Defence record and the gaps show: conditions documented in service that were never claimed, evidence DVA never received. A chart review across both is how we find them.

Ready to lodge new claims from what you find? Start at how to submit DVA claims, with how to upload the documents alongside it.