How DVA funding works
Veterans' Home Care or household services: what's the difference?
Two DVA programs that both help at home, with different rules on who chooses the provider and what you pay.
Veteran Home Help is an independent private business. We are not part of, endorsed by or acting for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) or any government agency. DVA decides what you are approved for.
What's the difference between Veterans' Home Care and household services?
Veterans' Home Care (VHC) and household services are two different DVA programs, and you can't have both for the same help. VHC is assessed by phone through the VHC assessment agency on 1300 550 450 and is open to Veteran Card holders, Gold or White, who live at home and need help because of functional limitations. Under VHC, DVA allocates one of its contracted VHC providers, and you pay a small co-payment: $5 an hour, at most $5 a week for domestic help and at most $75 in 12 months for home and garden maintenance, which is capped at 15 hours a year. Household services are compensation for an accepted service-related injury or condition: DVA assesses what you need, your approval lists each service and its maximum cost, and you choose the provider. If DVA approves household services under the MRCA, you can no longer receive VHC domestic assistance or home and garden maintenance. Veteran Home Help works with household services approvals.
Side by side
The main differences between the two programs, from DVA's pages.
| Veterans' Home Care | Household services | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can be assessed | Veterans' Home CareVeteran Card holders, All Conditions (Gold) or Specific Conditions and Non-liability Health Care (White), who live at home and need help because of functional limitations | Household servicesVeterans who can't manage household tasks because of an accepted service-related injury or condition |
| How you apply | Veterans' Home CarePhone the VHC assessment agency on 1300 550 450 | Household servicesClaim form D9319, sent to DVA |
| Who chooses the provider | Veterans' Home CareDVA allocates one of its contracted VHC providers | Household servicesYou choose the provider |
| What you pay | Veterans' Home CareA co-payment of $5 an hour: at most $5 a week for domestic help, at most $75 in 12 months for home and garden maintenance | Household servicesAnything above your approved amount per service or above the weekly limit |
| Limits | Veterans' Home CareHome and garden maintenance up to 15 hours in 12 months | Household servicesSet by your approval, plus DVA's hourly rate and weekly limit |
| Both at once? | No. With an MRCA household services approval, you can't also receive VHC domestic assistance or home and garden maintenance. | |
Which one applies to me?
DVA decides. If you're not sure what you have, check your letter or ask DVA on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372). If your letter is a household services approval, you can choose the Veteran Home Help team; see what to send us.
Where this comes from
Every fact on this page comes from DVA's own website and documents.
- DVA: Veterans' Home Care (VHC)
- DVA: Veterans' Home Care flyer
- DVA: Household services compensation
- DVA: Household services, attendant care and Veterans' Home Care (2026 changes)
Checked against DVA's website on 25 October 2026. DVA decides what you are approved for; if anything here differs from your own letter, your letter is what counts.