DVA SoPs: The Medical Rules Behind a Liability Decision

Who Writes Each SoP and What It Covers

Every SoP is a legal rule about one medical condition, not a guide written for veterans. Knowing who makes it explains why DVA follows it so closely.

Written by a Medical Panel, Applied by DVA

The Repatriation Medical Authority writes every Statement of Principles, or SoP. That body, the RMA, sits outside DVA and has five members from medicine and medical science. DVA's guide to SoPs says the RMA bases each one on medical research from around the world.

The RMA plays no part in deciding your claim. Each new SoP is put before Parliament, but it only takes effect from the date written into it. Once it is in force, every decision maker has to apply it in any claim that calls for a SoP.

The system grew out of a reform that began in 1994. The RMA's home page says the reform set out to make causation decisions more even-handed and consistent.

Factors Decide the Link

Every SoP is built around its factors. Each factor is an exposure, injury, illness or event. Published medical research treats it as a possible cause of the condition starting or worsening.

Your claim needs only one of them. That factor must fit your circumstances and stem from your service.

So a doctor's opinion that service brought on your condition will not settle a claim by itself. The question DVA asks is narrower: which listed factor fits, and does your service explain it?

What Sits Outside a SoP

Each SoP deals only with the liability question. If DVA says yes, a needs assessment follows. Any compensation for impairment is then worked out against a different DVA guide, which our impairment points table walks through.

Where SoPs Fit Since July 2026

Before a SoP comes into play, DVA now checks two other routes. DVA's guide to how it assesses claims sets out this order for new claims:

• First, presumptive liability: If a doctor has diagnosed a condition on DVA's presumptive list and you meet its criteria, DVA can accept the link without further proof. Those criteria can cover what kind of duty you did, how long you served and when symptoms started
• Second, medical event on duty: This test covers an injury that happens during duty, like a fracture, heart attack or stroke. Cancer and other diseases fall outside it
• Third, the remaining liability tests: These ask whether the condition traces back to service. A SoP usually applies at this stage

The presumptive route has no separate form. Where that route fails, DVA moves to the on-duty test itself. If neither fits, DVA's presumptive liability page says the standard assessment that follows usually involves a SoP.

Claims That Skip the SoP Step

A SoP is not used for every condition or every claim. DVA's guide to SoPs, linked above, lists these exceptions:

• No SoP covers your condition and no RMA declaration rules one out
• The claim is for a death caused directly by a condition DVA had accepted
• A condition began or got worse as an unplanned result of Commonwealth treatment
• Service aggravated a sign or symptom of a condition
• DVA decides an accident that injured or killed the veteran would never have happened without their defence service

The sign-or-symptom exception covers a condition that began before or during service without coming from it. Service then made a sign or symptom of it worse. A SoP worsening factor is different: it is a listed cause that made the condition itself worse for good.

When no SoP covers a condition, DVA weighs medical opinion and any other evidence before it. The RMA's note on conditions without a SoP explains this approach.

The same note lists a short set of conditions the RMA ruled cannot be connected with service, such as presbyopia and dyspepsia. Claims for those cannot be accepted.

Sometimes the RMA announces it will look into a condition still lacking a SoP. Most claims and reviews for that condition then wait until a SoP is made or the RMA declares it will not. The wait does not apply where DVA decides the claim under presumptive liability.

Two Versions for Most Conditions

Almost every condition that a SoP covers has two versions, because the law applies a different standard of proof to each kind of service. The service you did decides which version DVA uses. The gap between them can decide whether your evidence clears a factor.

Where the Versions Part Ways

Both versions define the condition in exactly the same way. The RMA's question-and-answer page explains that the reasonable hypothesis often lists more factors. Where a factor appears in both, it is usually easier to meet in that version.

The differences sit in the detail. A factor might need less exposure in one version. It might also set a different gap between the exposure and the condition appearing.

The RMA offers a cancer illustration. For several cancers, the lenient SoP sets a 5-year gap from exposure to onset, while the stricter one sets 10 years.

If You Served on Operations and in Peacetime

Where a career mixed both types, when the factor happened decides which version DVA uses. What counts is the sort of service you were performing at that moment.

Each SoP's definition of relevant service names the kinds of service it covers. Some factors need a set amount of exposure. The RMA says exposure from different periods can sometimes be added together.

The total is first tested against the reasonable hypothesis version. Any connection to your operational, peacekeeping, hazardous or nuclear-test service has to be exhausted first. Only once that is ruled out does DVA fall back to the balance of probabilities version, which sets a higher exposure amount for peacetime service.

Reading Your Condition's SoP

Nobody expects you to read your SoP before lodging. Knowing its layout still helps you spot what DVA will look for.

Finding the Right SoP

You can find every current and past SoP through the RMA's SoP search page. Searches work by a condition's name, its SoP number, the year or a medical code.

Each condition has one page on the site. It holds the current SoPs, old versions and the statements that explain them. Check the name with care, as similar conditions can have separate SoPs, such as spondylosis of the neck and of the back.

The Parts Worth Reading First

Three parts carry most of the weight:

• The condition clause: An early clause pins down exactly which diagnosis the SoP covers. A diagnosis outside it means that SoP will not apply
• The factors: Each one names a cause. It only helps your claim when your service explains it
• The definitions: Newer SoPs define key words such as relevant service in Schedule 1. Some made before 2015 use a clause headed "Other definitions". A defined term overrides its everyday sense

Onset, Worsening, Amount and Timing

Each factor relates to either clinical onset or to clinical worsening. Onset means the point the condition began. Worsening means it got worse for good.

For a disease, your doctor usually traces symptoms back from the diagnosis, because onset comes before the diagnosis. An injury's onset is normally simple to fix because it ties to the injury itself.

Worsening factors can help when the condition was already there before or during service but did not come from it. The RMA says the worsening must be permanent and go past the condition's natural course. Service aggravating only a sign or symptom is a separate route, decided without a SoP.

Some factors also set an amount and a timeframe. That might be a weight lifted over a period, hours spent flying or cigarettes smoked before onset.

Evidence That Fits a Factor

DVA does the matching between your facts and the SoP, but it can only match what is on file. Two kinds of evidence matter most: medical detail and a plain account of what you did in service.

What Your Doctor's Report Should Cover

DVA updated its guidance for doctors on liability assessments in October 2026. It says doctors need not know the SoPs. Instead, it asks for clinical facts that DVA can test against the factors:

• The condition named in medical terms, with the side or location where relevant
• When symptoms of that condition started and when a doctor diagnosed it
• Causes already known and any risk factors in your history, such as past injuries, work activities or exposures

DVA cannot assess a symptom such as pain as the claimed condition. A report naming "osteoarthritis of the right knee" is assessable, while "chronic knee pain" is not. Our osteoarthritis claims page covers that condition in more depth.

The same guidance also covers these points:

• No verdict on the service link: That judgement is the DVA delegate's. Doctors can still name work causes, such as noise from weapons or aircraft
• No onset date guessed to fit your service: DVA can still accept a condition that did not begin in service
• Symptoms first felt in service: If clear evidence shows the condition's first symptoms came in service, your doctor should record that, even if nobody reported or diagnosed them then
• Month and year are enough: For many long-running conditions, an exact start date is rarely known, so the guidance accepts a sensible estimate
• Each condition listed separately: This applies where two or more conditions explain your symptoms
• Approval before extra tests: Any further scans or tests your doctor wants for the claim need the DVA delegate's approval first

DVA prefers a treating doctor to complete this paperwork. Its treating doctor guide for veterans counts a GP practice you have visited in person at least two times in the latest 24 months. Some remote practices need only one visit.

A specialist treating the condition you claim can also count. You can usually still pick the doctor yourself.

Showing How Your Service Fits

The factor also has to connect to what you did in service. Describe your duties, the loads you carried, the exposures you had and any incidents, with dates where you can.

Picture a SoP factor about carrying heavy loads for a minimum total of hours. Useful evidence would show your role and how heavy the loads were. It would also show how often you carried them and across which years.

If you had both operational and peacetime service, note which postings each activity happened in. That detail decides which SoP version DVA applies.

DVA reads your Defence medical records itself. Your own account matters most for detail those records may not hold. In our claims work, we check the diagnosis against the SoP's condition clause first, because a mismatch can stall a claim early.

One sign of a mismatch is a report naming a symptom or a broad label, not the condition the SoP defines. When we see that, we flag it early so your treating doctor can confirm whether a more specific diagnosis applies.

When a SoP Changes or Seems Wrong

SoPs are reviewed as research moves on, so the SoP in place on the day you claim may not be the last word. That can work in your favour.

Revisions After DVA Decides

A SoP stays in force until the RMA revokes it or one chamber of Parliament disallows it.

If the RMA revises a SoP after the first decision but before a review decision, the SoP that applied at the time of the primary decision continues to apply at every stage of the review, even where a later SoP would be more favourable to the claimant. DVA's guide to SoPs sets out this rule.

A changed SoP may also count as new evidence if you claim again for a refused condition. It must be a change that could alter the result. DVA's rules on claiming after a rejection list the other conditions, such as having no appeal options left.

If DVA turned you down years ago, check whether your SoP has changed since.

SoP reviews are ongoing. The RMA's July 2026 update announced focused reviews of its SoPs for spondylosis of the neck and back.

Challenging a SoP Itself

If medical evidence supports it, you may ask the RMA to look at a SoP again or to make one where none exists yet. DVA's page about the RMA and the review council explains how both bodies maintain the system.

DVA's guide to SoPs lists who can ask: veterans, ADF members past and present, eligible dependents and veteran organisations. Requests use the RMA's own form, which can be submitted online.

Eligible people have a further option in the review council, known as the SMRC. It can review what a SoP says. It can also review the RMA's refusal to make, change or look into one.

Time limits are strict. The RMA's summary of its role puts the window at three months from the RMA's decision.

A SoP review looks at medical research, not at your individual claim. To dispute what DVA decided about your own claim, our DVA appeals guide explains the steps.

Lodging a Claim a SoP Will Decide

Lodge online through MyService or call the 1800 VETERAN line on 1800 838 372 for support with a claim. Staff at DVA offices and Veterans' Access Network sites can also help in person.

Every condition on your claim needs a diagnosis made by a health professional qualified to give one. Get DVA's approval before you arrange or pay for any extra report. Otherwise, the cost may stay with you.

A paper form is another option when you have no advocate. DVA's claim lodgement page explains how. Our step-by-step claim guide walks through each stage.

How We Help With Claims Built on a SoP

When a SoP applies, we build your initial liability claims around it. We test your diagnosis and service history against each of the SoP's factors.

If we are running your claim, we can also point you to suitable medical providers near you. DVA should approve any new report before it is booked, or the cost could fall to you. Our condition guides show how common claims are approached.

We charge for our work and are independent of DVA. Our work stays within DVA claims and the entitlements that come with them.

One Factor, Clearly Linked

A SoP lists factors that may link your condition to service. DVA checks whether one of those factors applies to you.

We have supported over 10,000 veterans through the DVA claims process, so contact Veterans First Consulting to see if one fits you.