DVA Medical Grade Footwear List: What's Available and How to Access It

What Is the DVA Medical Grade Footwear List?

For ready-made shoes, DVA uses a register of approved footwear styles that can be supplied through its Medical Grade Footwear program. Custom-made footwear is different. It is not selected from the same style register. It is made by a contracted supplier to fit your individual foot or ankle structure, with DVA approval required where needed.

Ready-Made Medical Grade Footwear

Ready-made medical grade footwear is extra-depth, extra-width, or both. The shoes are pre-manufactured by contracted suppliers and sit on the official register, so a clinician can pick a style that matches their assessed needs.

In November 2023, DVA expanded the Ready-Made Footwear Register to include almost 400 different styles, including styles designed for diabetic feet. That gives prescribers a much wider catalogue to match each veteran's foot shape, gait, and lifestyle.

Custom-Made Medical Grade Footwear

Custom-made footwear is built from scratch by a contracted supplier to fit your individual foot and ankle structure. According to DVA's Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge guidance on medical grade footwear, custom shoes are typically reserved for veterans whose feet cannot be fitted from the ready-made register, often because of severe deformity or significant asymmetry between feet.

Custom-made shoes require prior approval from DVA before the supplier can build them, which is one reason the timeframe is longer than for ready-made shoes.

Who Qualifies for the DVA Medical Grade Footwear Program?

Eligibility is built around two pillars: the right DVA card status and a clinical assessment confirming you actually need medical grade footwear. Both must line up before footwear can be prescribed and supplied.

Card Requirements: Gold Card or White Card

You must hold a Veteran Gold Card or a Veteran White Card to receive medical grade footwear. Gold Card holders generally have treatment cover for all medical conditions, provided the footwear meets DVA’s clinical criteria. White Card holders need the footwear to treat an accepted condition, and the assessing provider must check eligibility with DVA before prescribing.

• For Gold Card holders, the program covers footwear for any clinically assessed deformity or abnormality.
• For White Card holders, the foot or ankle condition must be on your list of accepted conditions, and your assessing health provider must check eligibility with DVA before prescribing.

This is where many veterans get stuck. A podiatrist may agree that specialised footwear would help, but for White Card holders, DVA funding usually depends on whether the relevant foot, ankle or related condition has already been accepted. If the accepted condition is missing, unclear or not connected to the footwear need, the claim foundation may need attention before the footwear pathway can move forward.

Clinical Conditions That May Qualify

The program is for veterans whose everyday shoes cannot fit or be modified to fit because of a deformity, abnormality, or systemic condition like diabetes. Common qualifying issues include:

• The long-tail effects of musculoskeletal injuries
• Chronic joint disease
• Circulation or sensation problems linked to diabetes

Some foot, ankle, or related musculoskeletal conditions may form part of a broader MRCA claim if DVA accepts them as service-related. If you live with accepted osteoarthritis affecting the ankles, knees, or hips, severe plantar fasciitis, or post-surgical foot deformity, medical grade footwear may be available where your provider confirms it meets DVA’s clinical criteria.

What's on the DVA Approved Footwear Supplier List?

The supplier list is separate from the footwear register itself. Suppliers are the contracted companies authorised to manufacture or sell medical grade footwear to DVA clients, and the register is the catalogue of approved styles that these suppliers can provide.

Major Brands on the Register

Although DVA does not publicly endorse specific brand names in its general MGF guidance, the ready-made register may change over time. Your assessing health provider should use the current register and supplier list to match an approved footwear style to your foot shape, condition, and intended use.

You will not pick a brand off the shelf the way you would in a regular shoe shop. The choice should be based on clinical fit, DVA’s current approved options, and the features your feet need, such as extra depth, extra width, or therapeutic support.

Where to Get Fitted

Contracted MGF suppliers work with you and your assessing provider to supply footwear according to the prescription. They measure, fit and trial the footwear, seek prior approval where required, complete the supplier section of the D0688 form, and usually send the footwear to your assessing provider unless another arrangement has been made.

Your podiatrist or specialist will check the fit, function, and suitability before you take them home. According to DVA's guidance to providers on prescribing medical grade footwear, this acquittal step is required to maintain the warranty and to confirm the shoes are doing their job.

How to Access Medical Grade Footwear Through DVA

The pathway is well-defined, but access depends on your card type, your assessed clinical need and whether DVA’s MGF criteria are met. For White Card holders, the footwear must relate to an accepted condition. Each step builds on the last, and skipping any of them usually means delays.

Where Delays Often Happen

In our experience, delays usually happen before the footwear is ever supplied. A veteran may have a genuine clinical need, but the relevant foot, ankle or related condition may not be listed as an accepted condition, especially for White Card holders. In other cases, the provider may not check eligibility with DVA before prescribing, the wrong form or pathway may be used, or prior approval may be missed for custom-made footwear, recreational footwear or repairs outside the schedule.

That is why the claim foundation matters. Before you move too far into the footwear process, it helps to confirm that your card status, accepted conditions and provider pathway all line up with DVA’s Medical Grade Footwear requirements.

Step 1: Establish Your DVA Card Eligibility

Before footwear becomes possible, your card status and clinical need must line up. For White Card holders, that usually means making sure the relevant foot, ankle or related condition has been accepted by DVA, often through an initial liability claim, before footwear is prescribed.

If liability is accepted, a White Card may cover treatment for that accepted condition. Gold Card eligibility is separate and may apply if you reach 60 or more MRCA impairment points, qualify through SRDP, or meet another DVA pathway. Both card types may support access to the medical grade footwear program, but eligibility still depends on DVA’s MGF criteria and your assessed clinical need.

Step 2: Get Assessed by a Qualified Health Provider

Book a GP appointment and ask for a referral, or use a referral from a medical specialist or a health professional as part of hospital discharge, where that applies. The Department of Veterans' Affairs accepts referrals to a podiatrist or to a relevant specialist such as an:

• Orthopaedic surgeon
• Rehabilitation specialist
• Rheumatologist

The assessing provider examines your feet, identifies the deformity or condition, and decides whether ready-made or custom-made footwear is clinically appropriate. The same clinician who assesses you will also handle prescribing. If you want a deeper view of how footwear fits within broader podiatry care, our DVA podiatry guide walks through what is covered.

Step 3: Prescription and Supply

Your provider completes the D0688 Medical Grade Footwear prescription form and sends it to a contracted supplier. For White Card holders, the assessing provider must check eligibility with DVA before submitting the form.

The supplier obtains prior approval from DVA where required, including for custom-made footwear, recreational pairs, supplies above two pairs, Veteran White Card holders, and repairs not on the schedule, then ships the shoes back to your prescriber for fitting. Within one to two months of supply, your provider checks the quality, fit, and suitability so any issues can be sorted with the supplier.

What Conditions Does the Program Cover?

Medical grade footwear is not a free pass on stylish shoes. It exists to address specific clinical problems that compromise mobility, skin integrity, or pain levels.

Diabetes-Related Foot Issues

Diabetes can be one reason veterans receive medical grade footwear. The DVA program covers diabetic veterans whose feet need extra protection against ulcers, pressure injuries, and complications from neuropathy or poor circulation, with the DVA medical grade footwear page listing diabetes among the qualifying conditions where everyday shoes cannot fit or be modified.

Foot and Ankle Deformities

Structural issues may fall into this category where they create a clinically assessed foot or ankle deformity or abnormality, and suitable everyday shoes cannot fit or be modified safely. So do significant size differences between feet, including those caused by amputation or partial amputation.

The defining test is whether retail shoes can be fitted or modified to safely accommodate the foot. If they cannot, the program is designed to step in.

Service-Related Musculoskeletal Conditions

Many veterans live with the consequences of:

• Years of carrying packs
• Running on hard ground
• Jumping from vehicles and aircraft

These exposures often produce chronic foot, ankle, and knee conditions that respond well to specialised footwear.

If your accepted MRCA condition creates a foot or ankle deformity, abnormality, or clinical need that meets DVA’s MGF criteria, your provider can assess whether medical grade footwear is appropriate. Our permanent impairment claims service helps veterans prepare and progress claims for service-related conditions, so they can understand which downstream entitlements may be available where DVA’s criteria are met.

Practical Details Veterans Often Miss

The program has rules that make a real difference to how often you can get new shoes, what kinds you can have, and what falls outside the scope. These details often get lost in general overviews.

Two Pairs at a Time, Plus Recreational Footwear

The DVA program allows up to two pairs of shoes at a time for eligible clients. If you take part in recreational sports such as bowling or golf and need specialised footwear for that activity, you may also receive an additional recreational pair on top of your everyday shoes.

The recreational pair is a feature many veterans never use, simply because they did not realise they may be eligible. If you stay active, ask your podiatrist about it directly, as recreational MGF requires prior approval and is not automatic.

Replacement Timeframes

DVA expects a properly prescribed pair of medical grade footwear to last 18 to 24 months. According to DVA's guidance on prescribing medical grade footwear, if shoes are wearing out faster than that, both the supplier and the prescriber are expected to reassess the style and type being issued.

That review is a healthy thing for veterans. Premature wear often signals a fitting issue, a gait change, or a new clinical problem worth investigating.

What the Program Will Not Cover

The program does not provide slippers, slip-on shoes, open-toed shoes, high-heeled shoes, or shoes whose primary purpose is to accommodate an orthosis you have made elsewhere. Stock retail shoes are also outside the program, even if a podiatrist recommends them.

There is also a no-duplication rule. The D0688 prescription form notes that footwear cannot be supplied through the DVA program at the same time as the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a Home Care Package, or the Commonwealth Home Support Programme for the same purpose.

Temporary Medical/Post Operative Shoe/Boot items are not part of the medical grade footwear list at all. They are dealt with through the Rehabilitation Appliances Program, which is a separate entitlement.

How Veterans First Consulting Helps

Medical grade footwear sits at the end of a chain that starts with your DVA claim. Without the right card status and an assessed clinical need that meets DVA’s MGF criteria, the program may not be available. White Card holders also need the footwear to treat an accepted condition. Our team focuses on the claim foundation that helps clarify whether treatment entitlements may be available under DVA rules.

We are Australia’s largest independent veteran advocacy group and have supported over 9,000 veterans. Our DVA Claims Services cover initial liability, permanent impairment, reviews and appeals, with start-to-finish guidance from a team that understands the DVA system. If your foot or ankle conditions have not been formally accepted, that is the place to start.

For veterans already holding a card, we can help you understand how your accepted conditions, card status, and DVA claim pathway connect to broader treatment entitlements.

Putting Your Feet First

The right claim foundation can make everyday supports like properly fitted footwear much easier to access. Contact Veterans First Consulting today to talk through your DVA claim and take the next step with confidence. We do not prescribe footwear, but we help clarify whether the claim foundation is in place before veterans speak with their provider.