DVA Pension Increase 2026: The Three Dates Your Payments Change

How Your Payment Rise Is Worked Out

DVA does not pick a number. Each payment is tied by law to a measure of prices or wages and the rules decide the rest.

The Three Measures DVA Compares

Most pension and compensation payments are adjusted using one of three measures of cost of living and wages. Each is calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

• Consumer Price Index (CPI): The official measure of inflation. It tracks the price of a basket of goods and services bought by metropolitan households
• Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI): The same idea, but the basket is built around what pensioner and beneficiary households actually spend their money on
• Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE): A measure of average before-tax weekly earnings for male employees in Australia

Where the PBLCI moves more than the CPI over an indexation period, the PBLCI is used instead. That is why the driver changes from round to round.

The September 2025 rise was driven by the PBLCI. The March 2026 rise was driven by the CPI. Neither was a choice DVA made on the day.

The MBR Factor

Several payments do not get their own index calculation. They move by the same proportion as the single maximum basic rate of Service Pension, which DVA calls the MBR factor.

A few payments move this way. They include the Veteran Payment maximum basic rate and the ceiling rate of Income Support Supplement. The ceiling rate of veteran service pension, domestic allowance and the Disability Compensation Payment are indexed by the MBR factor too.

Why Service Pension Sits Apart

Service Pension is legislated to keep pace with MTAWE, so it has an extra step. The maximum basic rate is first lifted in line with whichever of the CPI or PBLCI moved more.

The combined couple rate is then compared with 41.76% of MTAWE. If it falls short, it is lifted to meet it. The single rate is then set at 66.33% of the combined couple rate.

The pension supplement is a separate component. It moves with the CPI only.

The Three Dates Your Payments Change

Two rounds a year cover most payments. It does not cover all of them and the gap matters if you hold an MRCA payment.

20 March and 20 September

These are the two rounds most veterans know. On the income support side, they cover:

• Service Pension
• Veteran Payment
• Income Support Supplement
• Pension Supplement
• Rent assistance

On the compensation side, they cover the Disability Compensation Payment and the War Widow(er)'s Pension. Two MRCA payments sit in this group as well: the Special Rate Disability Pension and the wholly dependent partner payment.

1 July

A third round runs on 1 July each year and it is the one that is easiest to miss. It covers the income free areas, the assets value limits and the deeming thresholds. Between them, those settings decide how much of your income support you actually receive.

It also covers a group of MRCA rates. If you receive MRCA permanent impairment compensation, your maximum rate does not move in March or September. It moves on 1 July.

What Changed on 20 March 2026

The March 2026 increase applied from 20 March 2026 and was driven by CPI. It lifted the main Service Pension, Veteran Payment, War Widow(er)’s Pension, Disability Compensation Payment and relevant MRCA rates.

For context, the single Service Pension rate moved to $1,200.90 a fortnight. The couple rate moved to $905.20 each, while the Special Rate Disability Compensation Payment and MRCA Special Rate Disability Pension both moved to $1,895.90 a fortnight.

The key point is timing. These are fortnightly rates, but the first payday after indexation may only show a partial increase because the payment period is split across old and new daily rates.

General Rate payments also increased in the same round. Our DVA pensions guide sets out who each of these payments is for.

Why the Transitional Rates Rose by Less

You may have noticed that the two transitional rows in that table moved by smaller amounts than the standard ones. That is not an error in the table, and it is not a mistake in your payment.

Transitional rules apply to a shrinking group. They may cover you if you were paid Service Pension, Social Security Age Pension or Income Support Supplement before 20 September 2009 at less than the maximum rate. DVA works out your rate under both sets of rules and pays whichever is higher.

The indexation method is one of the key differences under the transitional rules. A transitional payment is indexed by the CPI alone, on 20 March and 20 September. It does not pick up the PBLCI or the MTAWE benchmark that lifts the standard Service Pension.

That is why the table above shows the single transitional rate rising by $18.00 in March 2026 while the standard single rate rose by $22.20. DVA's published rates for the September 2025 round, when the PBLCI drove the increase, show the gap was wider again at $14.90 against $29.70.

Two further differences matter. Income above the free area reduces a transitional pension by 40 cents in the dollar rather than 50 cents, and the work bonus is not available under transitional rules at all.

Once you move off transitional rules you cannot move back. It is worth knowing which set you sit under before your circumstances change.

What Changed on 1 July 2026

The 1 July round lifted the thresholds that shape income support. It also lifted a set of MRCA rates that the March and September rounds do not touch.

Income and Assets Thresholds

From 1 July 2026, veterans could hold more income and assets before payments reduce. Income and assets tests do not apply to the Disability Compensation Payment or the War Widow(er)'s Pension.

Three payments share the same income-free area. For Service Pension, Social Security Age Pension and Veteran Payment, it is now $226.00 a fortnight for singles and $396.00 combined for couples.

The assets limit is $333,000 for a single homeowner and $600,000 for a single non-homeowner. Combined couple limits are $499,000 and $766,000, as set out in DVA's summary of current VEA rates and limits.

The deeming thresholds also lifted to $66,800 for singles and $110,600 combined for couples. Deeming rates stayed where the March round put them, at 1.25% up to the threshold and 3.25% above it. If your savings and shares are close to that line, my guide to deeming and financial assets explains how the calculation works.

MRCA Rates

These are the current MRCA compensation rates, which run from 1 July 2026 to 19 September 2026. They are weekly amounts.

If you receive help at home, the household services and attendant care limits both sit at $633.47 a week. Our guide to DVA household services covers what those hours may be used for and how approval works.

Permanent impairment compensation may be paid as periodic payments or converted to a lump sum, and the conversion is calculated according to your age at the time. So two veterans on the same impairment points can be offered different lump sums. You can model the difference with my DVA permanent impairment payout calculator.

What Happens on 20 September 2026

The next scheduled round takes effect on 20 September 2026. DVA had not published the new figures as at the date of this guide and it usually releases them in the days just before the indexation date.

What is already settled is the end point of the current rates. Every figure above holds until 19 September 2026, and from 20 September the March 2026 rates become the old rates.

You do not need to do anything to receive the rise. It is applied to eligible payments automatically, with no form to lodge and no call to make.

When the Money Actually Reaches You

This is the part that catches people out, and it is the reason a rise can look smaller than the headline. Payments are paid fortnightly but calculated on a daily basis.

Why Your First Payday Looks Wrong

A DVA payment period runs for 14 days, starting on a Tuesday and ending on the Monday before payday. When an indexation date falls inside a payment period, that fortnight is split. Some days are paid at the old rate and the rest at the new one.

So what lands in your account is the sum of 14 daily entitlements, not a flat fortnightly figure. The days before the indexation date are paid at the old rate, and the days from that date onwards at the new one.

The first payday after 20 September is therefore a blended payment. Your full new rate does not appear until the second payday after the indexation date, so nothing has gone wrong and there is nothing to report.

The September 2026 Timeline

DVA has published its 2026 payday calendar, so the dates on either side of the change are already known.

The March 2026 round followed exactly this shape. New rates started on 20 March, the payday on 2 April covered 17 to 30 March at both rates and the first full payment landed on 16 April. The September 2025 round worked the same way.

What a Pension Increase Does Not Change

Indexation protects the value of what you already receive. It does not review whether what you already receive is right.

Three things stay exactly where they were:

1. Your impairment points: Indexation lifts the dollar value attached to your rating. It does not reassess the rating itself. My DVA impairment points table shows how points are grouped across body systems
2. Your accepted conditions: A condition you have not claimed cannot be assessed, whatever the rate
3. Which payments you are on: Moving between payment types depends on eligibility, not on the calendar
   

That last point is where the difference really shows. Indexation applies a percentage to your base rate, so a base rate that is too low stays too low and the gap widens with each round.

If you hold a Veteran Card, our guide to Gold Card pension rates and entitlements covers how card access sits alongside these payments. Card access under MRCA depends on reaching set impairment thresholds rather than on any pension rate.

To check anything about your own payment, there are three official routes to DVA. You can use MyService online, call 1800 VETERAN on 1800 838 372 or visit a Veterans' Access Network office in person.

Getting the Base Rate Right Before the Next Round

Your next rise is already scheduled and it will arrive without you lifting a finger, but it will not correct an assessment that was too low to begin with.

Veterans First Consulting has supported over 10,000 veterans through the DVA claims process as an independent, paid service provider.

Contact Veterans First Consulting for a free consultation if your accepted conditions or impairment points no longer reflect your health and we will talk through where you stand.