Skip to main content
If you've been carrying the weight of PTSD since leaving the ADF, you already know how isolating it can feel. This guide walks you through every funded program available to you, from peer support circles to hospital-based trauma programs, and explains how each one connects to your DVA entitlements. Whether you're newly transitioned or have been carrying this for years, the right support is closer than you think.
Get expert help with the entire claims process and secure the entitlements you deserve. With zero upfront fees, you only pay for successful claims.
PTSD is one of the most common mental health conditions affecting current and former ADF members, and the gap between veteran rates and general population rates is significant. Understanding why it affects veterans at higher rates helps you see this not as a personal failing, but as a predictable response to extraordinary circumstances.
According to Open Arms’ PTSD prevalence data, around 8% of currently serving ADF members experience PTSD in a given year, compared with 5% of the general community. Veterans may develop PTSD at lifetime rates of 5% to 20%, depending on deployment history. Research published through the Department of Veterans' Affairs VetAffairs journal confirms these higher rates, noting that military trauma is often compounded by co-occurring conditions, including:
These aren't separate issues; they feed each other.
What makes the veteran experience distinct is the type and frequency of exposure. In addition to traumas the general community faces, ADF members routinely encounter life-threatening events, operational loss and moral injury as part of their service. It's a lot to carry.
The transition to civilian life removes the structure and camaraderie that often keep symptoms in check. Many veterans describe symptoms emerging or worsening after discharge, not because anything changed in their mind, but because the supports that held everything together are gone.
Common impacts include:
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone, and you're not stuck. Effective, evidence-based treatments exist, and your DVA entitlements may cover all of them. Our article on support for veterans with PTSD explores the treatment options in more depth.
Group-based support is one of the most valuable tools available to veterans with PTSD. Shared experience breaks the isolation that makes PTSD worse, and peer connection builds a sense of safety that supports deeper treatment work. Several funded programs are available to you at no cost.
Open Arms' treatment programs and workshops include several group-based options designed for current and former ADF members. The Stepping Out program is a free, two-day group session addressing:
It's available online or in person, and there are no time restrictions on when you attend after leaving the ADF.
In Tasmania, Open Arms offers the Stress, Resilience and Functioning program for current and former ADF members. It provides practical tools for:
Open Arms also offers Building Strong Partnerships for Families in Tasmania, which supports partners and adult children of current and former serving members.
One of the most powerful resources available is Open Arms' Community and Peer Program. Community and Peer Workers have their own lived experience of military service or military family life, and they've been through their own mental health journey. They walk alongside clients and their families to provide support and connect them to the right resources.
This isn't a hotline. Peer workers:
The program operates across all of Australia. If you've ever felt like a counsellor couldn't understand what service was actually like, a peer worker changes that conversation entirely.
.jpg)
For veterans with a formal PTSD diagnosis, DVA funds a network of intensive hospital-based programs that go well beyond group peer support. These are structured clinical treatment programs with strong evidence behind them.
The DVA PTSD management explains that Trauma Recovery Programs (TRPs) are provided by accredited contracted hospitals and are available to veterans who hold a current Gold Card or White Card and have a clinical diagnosis of PTSD. Programs typically run between four and twelve weeks, depending on the hospital, and they cover both group and individual treatment.
Treatment approaches within these programs include:
Phoenix Australia, which collaborates with DVA and Open Arms to set evidence-based standards, also operates a specialist psychiatry clinic for veterans in Victoria and Tasmania through DVA-funded in-reach.
A GP or psychiatrist can refer you to a Trauma Recovery Program if it's clinically appropriate. You can also contact the hospitals directly to ask about their programs and intake processes.
The DVA-contracted hospitals offering Trauma Recovery Programs are located in:
NSW veterans can access St John of God Hospital in North Richmond. Queensland providers currently include:
In South Australia, the Jamie Larcombe Centre at Glenside operates a dedicated veterans’ mental health precinct. In Victoria, the current listed provider is The Geelong.
In Western Australia, Hollywood Clinic in Nedlands and The Marian Centre in Wembley both offer accredited programs.
At this time, there are no DVA-contracted hospitals actively delivering accredited PTSD programs in the ACT, NT or Tasmania. Veterans in those locations should contact Open Arms directly to discuss options.
Open Arms currently offers two national online programs:
These digital options make support easier to access from anywhere in Australia, which can be especially helpful for veterans in regional or remote areas or for those who are not ready to engage face-to-face. Open Arms no longer offers PTSD Coach Australia as a current download. DVA says that as of 16 October 2023, the app was removed from the Apple and Google Play stores, and its tools were moved to the Open Arms Self-help section.
Online peer groups and community forums have also grown significantly, with some veteran-specific groups operating through platforms that offer private, moderated spaces for connecting with others who understand service life. These work best as complements to formal clinical treatment, not replacements for it.
Here's something many veterans don't know: you don't have to wait for a formal DVA claim to be accepted before accessing funded mental health treatment. The Non-Liability Health Care (NLHC) scheme changes that.
As outlined on DVA’s Non-Liability Health Care, any current or former permanent ADF member is eligible for treatment for any mental health condition under NLHC, regardless of how long they served, when they served or the type of service. Reservists are also eligible if they have completed at least one day of continuous full-time service. Some reservists without CFTS may still qualify if they:
A diagnosis is not required to apply for NLHC mental health treatment. This means you can access treatment through NLHC from:
Our detailed guide to DVA non-liability health cover walks through eligibility and access in full. This is often the fastest entry point into funded care, and the treatment records you build can also support any future DVA mental health or liability claim.
PTSD doesn't only affect the veteran. Research from Open Arms shows that partners can experience:
Open Arms provides free, confidential counselling and support for eligible family members of current and former ADF personnel. Its current family group program listed on the Treatment Programs and Workshops page is Building Strong Partnerships for Families, which is available in Tasmania and designed for partners and adult children of current and former serving members.
Broader Open Arms family support is available beyond that group program, but parents and siblings have narrower eligibility and may be able to access support in bereavement-related circumstances where the service person has died.
Operation PTSD Support, listed by RSL Queensland, supports partners and carers of current or ex-serving Defence members through:
RSL Queensland describes the program as having a nominal cost that they partially fund ,rather than as a generally free or broadly subsidised service. If your partner is living with PTSD, support for you matters too, because looking after your own wellbeing can make a real difference to the recovery journey.
Participating in support groups and accessing treatment is important in its own right. But for many veterans, it's also the first step toward a formal DVA claim that recognises the impact of PTSD on their lives. Here's how those two things connect.
Before DVA can assess permanent impairment related to PTSD, it first needs to accept that your condition is service-related. This is called an initial liability claim. Our initial liability claims service explains how this works, and our guide to DVA mental health claims covers the PTSD-specific pathway in detail.
To support a PTSD claim, psychiatric evidence is usually central to the diagnosis and liability assessment. It is better to avoid wording that says only psychiatrists can assess all mental health conditions for DVA mental health claims. Since September 2025, DVA has also accepted diagnoses from treating GPs and treating clinical psychologists for certain anxiety and depressive disorder liability claims. The treatment and medical records you build through NLHC, Open Arms or hospital programs can still provide important supporting evidence at this stage.
DVA claims are not usually resolved in a matter of weeks. In many cases, the process takes months, and initial liability or permanent impairment claims often take around 18 to 24 months.
Once initial liability is accepted, DVA can assess your eligibility for permanent impairment entitlements under MRCA. You need a minimum of 10 impairment points to qualify. Permanent impairment is assessed using GARP M, the Guide to Determining Impairment and Compensation 2016. Your DVA claims assessor may refer you to a medical practitioner to measure how your accepted condition affects your functioning and daily life. The assessment considers the symptom:
Our PTSD claims service is specifically designed to support veterans through this process. If your claim has already been assessed and you believe your impairment wasn't fully captured, a reclassification of permanent impairment or DVA appeals process may be available to you. For more details on how impairment points are assessed and what entitlements may follow, see our guide to PTSD-related permanent impairment entitlements under MRCA.
Veterans whose PTSD prevents them from working may be eligible for incapacity payments once DVA has accepted the condition as service-related. If a mental health liability claim remains undetermined, Veteran Payment may be available as an interim support measure, subject to DVA’s eligibility rules.
You don't need to have everything figured out before reaching out for support. Whether it's an Open Arms group program, a peer worker, a hospital-based trauma recovery program or simply accessing treatment under NLHC while you prepare your claim, every step forward counts. And when you're ready to take your DVA claim seriously, Veterans First Consulting is here. Contact Veterans First Consulting today to assess whether your PTSD entitlements are properly recognised.
Written by
Join more than 9,000 veterans in getting the support they deserve. Leave us a note and our experts will be in touch shortly to discuss your new claim or claim reassessment.
Zero upfront fees – only pay for successful claims
9,000+ veterans served – we know what we're doing
Australia's largest DVA advocacy group
Explore Related Articles
