DVA Gold Card Entitlements for WA: What Each Card Type Gets

Three Eligibility Tests Behind WA Concessions

The Gold Card is often treated as a single thing. WA's concessions do not work that way and that is worth grasping before you apply for anything.

The three tests below are my grouping rather than an official WA framework and each one describes what a group of schemes actually asks to see.

What the card covers across Australia is set out in my general Gold Card guidance. This page deals only with what Western Australia adds on top.

Test One: The Gold Card on Its Own

Some WA concessions accept the card with no emboss and no extra paperwork. These are worth claiming first, because they need nothing more than the card in your wallet.

Transport and energy sit here. So does the free travel benefit further down this page.

None of them are applied automatically. Each provider needs you to contact them and register the card against your account.

Test Two: An Emboss or an Equivalent Letter

Other concessions need your card embossed TPI or EDA. Some accept a letter from DVA instead and that letter route matters if your claims run under MRCA.

Our guide to TPI Gold Card entitlements covers what a TPI marking means. In WA the emboss is the gate to the vehicle and driver's licence exemptions.

The distinction is not cosmetic. An emboss records a specific DVA determination, and WA reads it as shorthand for that determination rather than as decoration on the card.

Test Three: The WA State Concession Card

The State Concession Card is a separate WA document issued by the Department of Communities. It exists for DVA Gold Card holders who do not hold a Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card. Holding one is what makes the household concessions further down this page available to apply for.

WA accepts two forms of proof:

• A Gold Card embossed TPI, EDA, Dependent or War Widow
• A letter from DVA, which covers Blinded War Pensioners, tuberculosis as determined by DVA and veterans who have been offered or deemed eligible for the Special Rate Disability Pension

That second route is the one MRCA veterans miss. An unembossed Gold Card is not accepted on its own. Eligibility for the Special Rate Disability Pension opens the card by letter, even where nothing is printed on the card.

WA also names Totally and Temporarily Incapacitated recipients, war widows and widowers, Eligible Young Persons and Wholly Dependent Partners. It rules out anyone receiving only the General Rate Disability Compensation Payment or incapacity payments. If you already hold a Pensioner Concession Card from Services Australia or DVA, you do not need this card at all.

Applying is a separate step from anything DVA does. The Department of Communities issues the card and its application form sits on the page linked above. Allow time for it, because the household concessions below cannot start until it arrives.

Other states key their concessions differently again. Queensland ties several of its benefits to a state prefix on the card rather than to a second card.

For practical purposes, the WA concessions fall into four groups:

1. First, transport and energy are the easiest places to start. Veterans SmartRider, Transwa free travel and the Energy Assistance Payment may be worth checking with a Gold Card
2. Second, vehicle and driver licence concessions need closer proof. WA may ask for a TPI or EDA emboss, an SRDP letter or other DVA confirmation, depending on the concession
3. Third, household concessions usually need a Pensioner Concession Card or WA State Concession Card. A Gold Card alone should not be treated as enough for council rates or water concessions
4. Fourth, some schemes are not Gold Card concessions at all. Spectacles and taxi support need to be checked under their own WA rules rather than assumed from the Gold Card

Transport Concessions Your Card Opens on Its Own

WA's veteran transport concessions are broader than they first appear. Neither benefit below asks for a concession card other than the Gold Card, though each needs its own application.

Veterans SmartRider: Free Travel and Free Parking

The Veterans SmartRider is a separate card you apply to Transperth for. Once it is issued, eligible Gold Card holders travel free on Transperth buses, trains and ferries. The concession is not limited to off-peak hours.

Transperth lists Gold Card holders as eligible alongside TPI, EDA, POW and several other categories. The card also covers free parking for one registered vehicle at Transperth stations.

A Veterans Companion SmartRider is available where DVA has assessed you as needing attendant care. Your companion then travels free as well.

Transwa: Annual Regional Travel

Transwa is separate from Transperth, so the Veterans SmartRider does not cover this process. WA DVA Gold Card holders can register for an annual Transwa travel entitlement.

In practical terms, this can cover up to four one-way journeys in a calendar year, or fewer journeys if you use the entitlement for return travel.

After that entitlement is used, a concession fare may still apply. Register with Transwa before planning the trip, because the travel entitlement is not added automatically.

Do not compare this directly with other concession cards. Transwa applies different travel settings to different card types.

Energy Concessions for WA Gold Card Holders

WA pays its energy concessions through the electricity retailers, with the Energy Concession Extension Scheme as the route for households the retailers do not bill. The amounts changed on 1 July 2026. A Gold Card is an accepted card for the main payment and the two rebates carry further conditions on top.

The Energy Assistance Payment

The Energy Assistance Payment is $377.14 a year from 1 July 2026. It was previously called the Cost of Living Assistance payment, often shortened to CoLA.

How you claim it depends on who bills you for electricity. Synergy and Horizon Power apply the concession to your account, so contact your retailer if either bills you directly. If another supplier bills you, or you pay for electricity through a landlord or a park operator, you apply to RevenueWA through the scheme instead.

Tenants applying through the scheme have a further condition. You need to have lived at the address for at least three months or hold a lease of at least three months.

Dependent Child and Air Conditioning Rebates

Two extra rebates may sit beside the main energy payment, but a Gold Card alone does not settle either one.

• The Dependent Child Rebate may apply where eligible children are linked to the household and the main energy concession is already in place. Current figures are $396.56 for one child and $103.91 for each additional child

• The Air Conditioning Rebate is different again. It is limited to specified WA locations and depends on the household meeting one of the accepted concession pathways. The current amount is $78.98 for each eligible month

Neither rebate is automatic. Confirm the right claim route based on who bills you for electricity and which concession cards or approvals apply to your household.

Household Concessions That Need a Second Card

This is where a wrong assumption wastes an application. Neither concession below accepts a Gold Card on its own.

Council Rates and the Emergency Services Levy

The pensioners or seniors rebate gives up to 50 per cent off local government rates, capped at $750. A further 50 per cent comes off the Emergency Services Levy.

It applies to a home you own and occupy. For rates you need to have owned and occupied it at the start of the rating year on 1 July. 

You also need one of the concession cards WA accepts for this scheme. A Gold Card alone should not be treated as enough.

Registering is not automatic and it is not always done at your council. WA points eligible card holders to Water Corporation's concession application, which registers the rates rebate and the water rebate together and notifies your local government. Check with your council or Water Corporation before assuming a rebate has carried over, because moving house restarts it.

A WA Seniors Card on its own attracts a smaller rebate. That route caps at 25 per cent and $100.

Water Service and Usage Charges

The same rebate covers water. Service charges are reduced by up to 50 per cent, capped at $600 a bill year.

Usage charges are reduced separately. The cap depends on your region, and in the metropolitan area it is $158.10 in 2026-27. Country rates run higher again.

A Gold Card is not an accepted concession card here either. You need a Pensioner Concession Card or a State Concession Card, which takes you back to Test Three above.

The timing test is not quite the same as for rates. Rates turn on owning and occupying the property at the start of the rating year. Water turns on owning and occupying it on the date you apply.

Vehicle and Driver's Licence Concessions

WA gives full exemptions here rather than discounts, and there is an MRCA route into them that is easy to miss. The Department of Transport administers both.

The 60 Impairment Point Letter

Transport WA gives a 100 per cent exemption from vehicle licence fees and from vehicle licence duty on a purchase. The vehicle must have an unloaded mass of 3,000 kg or less. It must also not be licensed to a business.

The accepted proof is a TPI or EDA emboss, a Special Rate Disability Pension letter or a DVA letter certifying 60 or more impairment points under MRCA.

That third route matters. One MRCA pathway to a Gold Card is 60 or more impairment points, so many veterans already hold the evidence without knowing it counts here. Our guide to the DVA impairment points table explains how those points are worked out.

Where WA's Own Pages Disagree

The driver's licence concession is also a 100 per cent exemption and it covers the WA Photo Card. The eligibility list for it is shorter.

Transport WA names the TPI or EDA emboss and the Special Rate Disability Pension letter for the driver's licence. It does not list the 60 impairment point letter, though it does list that letter for the vehicle concession on the same page.

Whether that is an omission or a real difference is not stated on the page. Ask the Department of Transport before assuming the points letter works for both. Separately, the GST rules on buying a vehicle are federal and run alongside the WA exemption.

How MRCA Veterans Reach a TPI or EDA Emboss

TPI and EDA began as terms under the older scheme, which is why so much WA guidance reads as though MRCA veterans are shut out. They are not. DVA issues both markings through MRCA routes.

The Special Rate Disability Pension

DVA states that once you are eligible for the Special Rate Disability Pension, you receive a Veteran Card marked TPI. That holds even if you choose not to take the payment.

Eligibility needs several conditions met together. One is an injury or disease assessed at 50 or more impairment points under MRCA, likely to continue indefinitely.

Reaching 50 points on its own is not enough. My SRDP guide sets out the other conditions, which cover your separation from service, your incapacity payments, your age and your capacity to work.

The Additional Disablement Amount

The Additional Disablement Amount came into effect on 1 July 2026. DVA states that veterans granted it may receive an EDA embossed Veteran Card.

It is aimed at older veterans with severe impairment. Among the conditions, you need to be age pension age or older. DVA also requires an impairment rating of at least 70 points and a lifestyle rating of at least 6.

This is the newest route into WA's household concessions, and it postdates most published state concession guidance.

What the VETS Act Changed on 1 July 2026

The VETS Act closed the older schemes to new claims on 1 July 2026. Every compensation and rehabilitation claim lodged from that date is decided under MRCA.

Claims lodged before that date stay under the Act they were lodged under. DVA uses the term grandparented for this. It states that payments already being received are not stopped or reduced by the change.

For WA concessions the practical effect is narrow but real. A worsening claim lodged now runs under MRCA, so the emboss routes above are the ones that apply to it.

Worsening claims are worth singling out. DVA states that a claim for worsening of a pre-existing condition lodged from that date is considered under MRCA. That holds even where the original claim was not.

Concessions a Gold Card Does Not Cover in WA

Two WA schemes are often listed as veteran benefits. One exclusion is stated outright. The other is an absence.

The Spectacle Subsidy Scheme

WA's Spectacle Subsidy Scheme states that Department of Veterans' Affairs Gold card holders are not eligible. The scheme is open to Age, Disability and Service Pension recipients and to WA Seniors Card holders.

DVA funds optical services for eligible Gold Card holders nationally, so the state scheme would duplicate cover you already have. That appears to be the reason for the exclusion.

The Taxi Subsidy

WA's taxi subsidy was replaced on 1 March 2025 by the Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme. The current eligibility page names no DVA card at all.

The test is now a functional one. Medical evidence supports the application, and the scheme decides eligibility. You may still qualify on the merits of your condition, but not because you hold a Gold Card.

Proving Your Entitlement at the Counter

These concessions are applied by providers and state agencies rather than by DVA, and each asks for proof in its own way. Knowing which document to bring saves a second trip.

The Digital Veteran Card

DVA sends a physical card and a digital version sits in MyService. You can also add it to your myGov wallet through the myGov app.

The wallet feature works only in the app and not on the myGov website. DVA also notes that not every health professional accepts the digital card yet, so keep the physical one.

When the Card Alone Is Not Enough

Some WA concessions turn on a DVA determination rather than on the card itself. The 60 impairment point route to the vehicle exemption is the clearest case, because no marking on the card shows your points.

For those you need a letter. MyService carries a request statements and letters option for exactly this. You can also request one by calling 1800 VETERAN on 1800 838 372 or through a Veterans' Access Network office.

DVA states that concessions are at the discretion of the provider. A letter resolves most questions at the counter.

If You Have Moved to WA

WA concessions are run by WA providers and apply to WA residents. A move interstate does not carry your registrations with it.

Expect to register again, and expect the process to differ by scheme. The rates rebate and the water rebate share a single Water Corporation registration. Transport and energy are separate again and each has its own route.

Where to Start With Your WA Concessions

Claim the transport and energy concessions first, because your Gold Card is the only concession card they ask for.

WA agencies and providers decide the household concessions, and we do not provide or approve any WA concession.

What we do help with is the DVA side, so if your MRCA claim is still in progress or a condition has worsened, our permanent impairment claims team can review the impairment points behind your card.