Separation, medical/death, surviving partners 

• Separation from the ADF
• Medical Separation
• Death benefit/surviving partner 
• One-only subsidy certificate

Separation from the ADF

Separating from the ADF changes your DHOAS entitlement, in regards to accruing service credit, accessing additional subsidy certificates and your eligible tier level.

If you rejoin at a later date, you may also become subject to rejoining provisions.

Subsidy certificate impacts 

• You can receive only one subsidy certificate after you separate.
• Subsidy certificates are valid for only 12 months so you need to ensure that you use your final certificate before it expires. There are no options to extend it. 
• You may choose to apply for a subsidy certificate before separating, so that your one post-separation certificate can be accessed at a later date if necessary.
• If you are making progressive draw-downs on a construction loan and you have separated, you may wish to defer applying for your one post-separation subsidy certificate until construction is complete. This is so you can receive subsidy payments that are calculated on the maximum home loan balance possible.

Impacts on your eligible tier level

• If you have completed 20 or more years of service at the time of separation, you are entitled to receive your monthly subsidy payments at the tier 3 level. 
• If you do not have a 20 year service history, your subsidy will be paid at the tier 1 level, even if you were entitled to a higher tier level while serving. 
• If you do drop a tier level, your subsidy amount will reduce. 

Separation and service credit

• Once you separate from the ADF you will no longer accrue additional entitlement to DHOAS. 
• However, if at the time you separate you have completed the DHOAS qualifying period and accrued a service credit, you can access monthly subsidy payments on a DHOAS home loan using your available service credit.

Meeting Scheme conditions after separation

• If you are already in receipt of a DHOAS subsidy and you separate from the ADF, you must advise DVA using the Change of Circumstances form. 
• You are still required to occupy the home for 12 months from the date you start receiving subsidy payments.
• If you received the lump sum within the last 12 months, a condition of which was to serve in the ADF for at least another year, you may have to repay the lump sum amount.

Medical Separation

If you have been medically separated from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for a compensable condition, on or after 1 July 2008, you may be eligible as a ‘DHOAS Incapacitated Member’.  A compensable condition is one or more conditions that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) have accepted liability for.

Supporting Evidence

To assess you as a DHOAS Incapacitated Member, you will need to provide the following supporting evidence:

1. Service records that confirm you were medically transitioned from the Defence Force.
2. Documentation stating the medical condition/s that caused your separation:

• In most cases, this is your DM042 ('Medical Transition from the Defence Force – CSC Certificate of Capacity' form, previously known as 'Invalidity Retirement from the Defence Force Medical Information').
• If you don’t have a DM042, you can provide your MECRB (Medical Evaluation Committee Review Board) determination.
• For a retrospective invalidity decisions, this a copy of your Military Superannuation Benefits Scheme (MSBS) – Rule 30 Decision letter.

If you are still a member of the ADF, and currently in receipt of DVA incapacity/compensation payments, you will not be assessed as a DHOAS Incapacitated Member until you medically separate from the ADF.

DHOAS Incapacitated Member Entitlement

The DHOAS qualifying period for Permanent and Reserve members does not apply to DHOAS Incapacitated Members.

The below table demonstrates the potential entitlements:

*Adjusted by warlike service bonus (+) and previous subsidy assistance (-).

For example, if you were a Permanent member who performed 10 years and 6 months effective service at the time you medically separate due to a compensable condition (after 1 July 2008), you will be entitled to 10 years and 6 months of DHOAS subsidy payable at Tier 3.

The same conditions around accessing subsidy certificates and commencing payments still apply to incapacitated members (please see Subsidy Certificates, Conditions of receiving subsidy).  

Note: If you have already accessed a final subsidy certificate and are required to sell your subsidised property because of compensable condition/s that led to your medical separation, please contact the DHOAS customer service team on 1300 434 627 so we can discuss your individual circumstances in further detail. 

Death benefit/surviving partner

When a member dies in service or subsequent to his or her separation from the ADF, entitlement to the DHOAS subsidy may transfer to the member's surviving partner*.

The DHOAS benefits that your partner was receiving, or was eligible to receive, when he or she passed away transfer to you.

If you are unsure whether or not your partner was eligible to receive benefits under DHOAS, or for how long, please call us to discuss your personal situation. It will be helpful if you have the details of your partner’s service history available.

If you would like to learn more about DHOAS eligibility and entitlement, please see Eligibility Requirements, DHOAS Home Loans and Calculating Subsidy.

* A person is considered the partner of another person if the two persons have a relationship as a couple and ordinarily live with each other on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis.

How your partner benefits are transferred

How your partner’s DHOAS benefits pass to you will depend on whether or not your partner was already receiving subsidy payments into a DHOAS home loan.

The table below provides a brief overview of the different actions required to transfer your partner’s DHOAS benefits to you.

Table: Actions required to transfer partner’s benefits to you

For further details, please select one of the following:

1. Your partner was receiving subsidy payments under DHOAS. 

a. Your name is already on the DHOAS-subsidised home loan  
b. Your name is not on the DHOAS-subsidised home loan

 2. Your partner was not yet receiving subsidy payments under DHOAS

Your partner was receiving subsidy payments under DHOAS

a) Your name is already on the DHOAS home loan

In this case, the subsidy payments will continue to be made into your existing home loan until:

•  The service credit that your partner had accrued is expended
•  You sell the property or you repay the loan
•  You make a change to the existing home loan or the subsidised property which results in your subsidy payments ceasing

There are also other limited circumstances that may constitute a subsidy-ceasing event, so you are advised to call DHOAS to discuss your situation before making any changes to your DHOAS-subsidised loan.

This is very important given that you are a surviving partner and have access to only one subsidy certificate, which you need to restart subsidy payments on a new or amended home loan.

b) Your name is not on the loan

You are entitled to receive your partner’s benefits under DHOAS but you first need to transfer the title of the property to yourself and refinance the home loan into your name.

Until then, the subsidy payments being made into the DHOAS-subsidised loan will be suspended. This will be from the date of your partner’s passing until the date of the title of the property is transferred.

To restart subsidy payments, you need to notify DVA that  the subsidised loan is being refinanced into your name. DVA will then liaise with your Home Loan Provider to ensure your DHOAS benefits are protected. Once the refinance is completed, DVA will release the suspended payments and recommence ongoing payments into your new loan.

You will need to continue to meet the Scheme conditions for payments to continue. 

The payments will continue until the service credit that your partner had accrued is expended; you sell the property; you close the loan; or you make some other change to the loan or the subsidised property that results in the subsidy payments ceasing.

Please note: If your DHOAS home loan changes and your subsidy payments stop for any reason, you will need a new subsidy certificate to restart subsidy payments and access any remaining entitlement. You only have access to one subsidy certificate as a surviving partner. For this reason, you are advised to call DHOAS to discuss your situation before making any changes to your DHOAS-subsidised loan.

Your partner was not receiving subsidy payments under DHOAS

If your partner was not receiving DHOAS and you would like to access the subsidy, you will need to apply to DVA for a subsidy certificate as a surviving partner.

You take this certificate to one of the three nominated Home Loan Providers to take out a DHOAS home loan. Your home loan provider will report to DVA the details of your loan once it settles.

At this time, you also provide to DVA a completed Subsidy Authorisation Request Form (SARF), indicating you are meeting the Scheme conditions.

Once DVA has received the loan details and completed Subsidy Authorisation Request Form, it will calculate your subsidy amount and commence your subsidy payments.

The payments will continue until the service credit that your partner had accrued is expended; you sell the property; you close the loan; or you make some other change to the loan or the subsidised property that results in the subsidy payments ceasing.

Please note: If your DHOAS home loan changes and your subsidy payments stop for any reason, you will not have access to another subsidy certificate. This means you will not be able to restart subsidy payments and access any remaining entitlement. For this reason, you are advised to call DHOAS to discuss your situation before making any changes to your DHOAS-subsidised loan.

One-only subsidy certificate

It is important to note that as a surviving partner, you are able to apply for only one DHOAS subsidy certificate.

This means if you are currently receiving DHOAS subsidy payments, you will have only one more opportunity in which to set-up subsidy payments on a new or amended DHOAS home loan.

Or, if you are not yet receiving DHOAS, you will only have one opportunity to open a new DHOAS home loan and commence subsidy payments.

If for any reason this DHOAS home loan is closed or changed, or your payments are ceased (for example you can’t meet the conditions of the Scheme), you will be unable to apply for DHOAS again and you will not be able to access any remaining service credit.

You are advised to speak with DHOAS about your plans before making any changes to your DHOAS home loan, to ensure you understand the impact on your subsidy payments.