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DVA Gold Card

The DVA Gold Card (formally Repatriation Health Card — For All Conditions) entitles the holder to clinically necessary treatment for all health conditions, regardless of whether the condition is service-related. Providers bill DVA at 100% of the MBS schedule fee.

What this covers

All clinically necessary medical, allied health, and mental health treatment.
Hospital, community, and home-based care where the service is approved by DVA.
No pre-approval required for most allied health within current treatment-cycle limits.
Pharmaceutical benefits under the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS).

Eligibility

1Veterans of declared operational service, prisoners of war, and certain widowed partners.
2Veterans with high-level service-related disability (general rate of 100% disability pension or above).
3Card status is determined by DVA — providers do not assess eligibility.

Your notes must show

Documentation tests — what notes need to demonstrate to satisfy DVA reviewers and survive a fee-for-service or end-of-cycle audit.

Veteran identifier and Gold Card details (file number).
Referring doctor and referral date (where the service requires a GP referral).
Presenting concern and clinical assessment.
Treatment plan, modality, and expected duration.
Session-by-session progress notes (date, start/end time, intervention, response).
End-of-cycle outcome summary if claimed under treatment-cycle items.

Common audit failures

Patterns DVA flag at end-of-cycle review or fee-for-service audit.

Treating a Gold Card holder under the wrong fee schedule (charging the patient or claiming under MBS instead of DVA).
No referral on file for services that require one.
Session-volume claims without commensurate progress documentation.
Open-ended treatment without clear discharge planning.

Authoritative sources

Documentation tests on this page reference DVA Notes for Allied Health Providers and the published DVA programme rules. Always confirm current rules against the official DVA sources before claiming.

DVA Notes for Allied Health Providers DVA Fee Schedules

Related DVA references

DVA White Card

Non-Liability Mental Health (NLMH)

DVA Allied Health Treatment Cycles

Templates for DVA work

Note templates inside Grounded Scribe for DVA initial assessments, cycle progress notes, and end-of-cycle reports — function-focussed by default and aligned to the documentation tests above.

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In-depth reading in the Library

DVA Allied Health Documentation for Veterans: A Practitioner Guide

Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) allied health treatment must satisfy the DVA Provider Notes and Health Service Provider Manuals. This guide outlines the documentation structure that supports approval of treatment cycles and avoids audit findings.

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