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Non-Liability Mental Health (NLMH)

Non-Liability Mental Health is a DVA programme that funds mental-health treatment for any current or former member of the ADF, regardless of whether the mental-health condition is service-related and regardless of how long they served. NLMH is the gateway most veterans use for mental-health treatment under DVA.

What this covers

Treatment for any mental-health condition for eligible veterans, with no requirement to prove service connection.
Covers psychology, psychiatry, mental-health nursing, mental-health social work, mental-health OT, GP mental-health consultations, and PBS pharmaceuticals for mental-health conditions.
White-Card holders are issued an NLMH-endorsed card; this widens their entitlement specifically for mental-health treatment.
No referral is required for the veteran to access NLMH-funded counselling via Open Arms; allied-health practitioners typically receive a GP referral as for ordinary DVA work.

Eligibility

1Any current or former permanent ADF member.
2Reservists with at least one day of continuous full-time service (CFTS), border protection, or disaster relief operations.
3Some former Reservists with no CFTS are also eligible — DVA confirms.

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 confirmation that NLMH eligibility has been established (DVA letter or White Card endorsed for mental-health treatment).
Mental-health condition being treated — diagnosis or working formulation.
No requirement to link the condition to service; NLMH explicitly removes that test.
Treatment plan, modality, and expected duration.
Session-by-session progress notes (date, start/end time, intervention, response).
Risk and safeguarding observations where clinically relevant.

Common audit failures

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

Treating a non-mental-health condition under NLMH (NLMH covers mental-health only — physical comorbidities revert to White/Gold Card rules).
Failing to confirm NLMH eligibility before commencing — White Card alone does not always include NLMH.
Documenting service-connection reasoning when it is not required — wastes time and risks confusing later reviewers.

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 Non-Liability Mental Health Care DVA Notes for Allied Health Providers

Related DVA references

DVA Gold Card

DVA White Card

Open Arms — Veterans & Families Counselling

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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