What can I claim secondary to psoriatic arthritis?
5 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list psoriatic arthritis as a factor. If DVA has accepted your psoriatic arthritis, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionPsoriatic arthritis
- Conditions it may open5
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your psoriatic arthritis, and another condition's SoP lists psoriatic arthritis as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list psoriatic arthritis as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
RH No. 45 of 2024 · BoP No. 46 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (10): “having one of the following systemic inflammatory disorders causing cerebral vasculitis at the time of clinical onset: (a) ankylosing spondylitis; (b) dermatomyositis; (c) inclusion body myositis; (d) polymyositis; (e) psoriatic arthritis; (f) rheumatoid arthritis; (g) systemic sclerosis (scleroderma); (h) Sjögren syndrome; or (i) systemic lupus erythematosus” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (10): “having one of the following systemic inflammatory disorders causing cerebral vasculitis at the time of clinical onset: (a) ankylosing spondylitis; (b) dermatomyositis; (c) inclusion body myositis; (d) polymyositis; (e) psoriatic arthritis; (f) rheumatoid arthritis; (g) systemic sclerosis (scleroderma); (h) Sjögren syndrome; or (i) systemic lupus erythematosus” [clinical onset]
Gout
RH No. 59 of 2019 · BoP No. 60 of 2019
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (20): “having psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis at the time of the clinical onset of gout” [clinical onset] — factor (45): “having psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis at the time of the clinical worsening of gout” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (20): “having psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis at the time of the clinical onset of gout” [clinical onset] — factor (41): “having psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis at the time of the clinical worsening of gout” [worsening]
Ischaemic heart disease
RH No. 27 of 2025 · BoP No. 28 of 2025
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (25): “having one of the following systemic inflammatory rheumatological diseases at the time of clinical onset or clinical worsening: (a) ankylosing spondylitis; (b) dermatomyositis; (c) inflammatory bowel disease; (d) polymyositis; (e) psoriasis; (f) psoriatic arthritis; (g) rheumatoid arthritis; (h) Sjögren syndrome; (i) systemic lupus erythematosus; (j) systemic sclerosis” [onset and worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (17): “having one of the following systemic inflammatory rheumatological diseases at the time of clinical onset or clinical worsening: (a) dermatomyositis; (b) polymyositis; (c) psoriasis; (d) psoriatic arthritis; (e) rheumatoid arthritis; (f) Sjögren syndrome; (g) systemic lupus erythematosus; (h) systemic sclerosis” [onset and worsening]
Meniere disease and meniere syndrome
RH No. 68 of 2024 · BoP No. 69 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (3): “having any of the following autoimmune diseases before clinical onset; (a) ankylosing spondylitis; (b) Hashimoto thyroiditis; (c) rheumatoid arthritis; (d) systemic lupus erythematosus; (e) Cogan syndrome; (f) Susac syndrome; (g) Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome; or (h) psoriatic arthritis” [clinical onset]
This factor appears in the Reasonable Hypothesis instrument only, which applies to operational service.
Osteoporosis
RH No. 66 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (2): “having one of the following autoimmune diseases for at least the 1 year before clinical onset or clinical worsening; (a) ankylosing spondylitis; (b) dermatomyositis; (c) psoriatic arthritis; (d) rheumatoid arthritis; (e) systemic lupus erythematosus; or (f) systemic sclerosis” [onset and worsening]
This factor appears in the Reasonable Hypothesis instrument only, which applies to operational service.
Other accepted conditions that also open cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions psoriatic arthritis does.
What DVA means by psoriatic arthritis
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Psoriatic arthritis, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, psoriatic arthritis means a seronegative chronic inflammatory arthritis, occurring in association with skin or nail psoriasis.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(4) to 9(5) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, psoriatic arthritis where it was already present before or during service. If service caused psoriatic arthritis outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 15 of 2021 · BoP No. 16 of 2021 · 5 factors
What could support a claim for psoriatic arthritis?
The Statement of Principles for psoriatic arthritis names 1 other condition among its own factors. If any of these is already accepted on your file, it may be the factor that carries a psoriatic arthritis claim — quoted here from the instrument.
Psoriasis
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (1): “having psoriasis at the time of the clinical onset of psoriatic arthritis” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (1): “having psoriasis at the time of the clinical onset of psoriatic arthritis” [clinical onset]
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
Psoriatic arthritis accepted?
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