DVA Income Support Supplement (ISS)

What Is This Payment?

The Income Support Supplement is for war widows and widowers who already receive the War Widow's/Widower's Pension (a compensation payment) but also need income support. The compensation pension is not means tested; the ISS that sits alongside it is, so the two together provide both recognition of the loss and a means-tested income floor.

The rule database tags it as a Group B benefit with eligibility_only as its result role, inside the DVA Income Support cluster. It is the war widow(er) equivalent of a service or age pension — an income support payment, capped by a ceiling and reduced by income and assets.

Because the War Widow's Pension itself is counted differently in the means test, the ISS is structured with a ceiling rate rather than the standard pension maximum. This is what makes it a distinct payment rather than simply the Age Pension under another name.

How Much Can You Get?

The amount block is eligibility_only with period: none because the figure is means tested, but the published ceiling is about $363.80 per fortnight in 2025-26.

• The ceiling is the maximum ISS payable; it is lower than a full age or service pension because it is paid on top of the War Widow's Pension.
• The income and assets tests reduce the ISS for war widow(er)s with higher income or assets, so many receive a part rate.
• Paid in addition to the War Widow's Pension, so the total received by a war widow(er) on modest means combines the compensation pension and the income-tested ISS top-up.

Eligibility Conditions

The eligibility block is an all set.

1. War widow(er) pensioner: concession_card_type in {dva_gold_card}. Holding a DVA Gold Card is the questionnaire proxy for being a War Widow's/Widower's Pension recipient.

The underlying conditions are that you receive the War Widow's/Widower's Pension and meet the income and assets tests for the ISS. The supplement is not automatic with the compensation pension — it must be claimed and is means tested.

Required field is concession_card_type. The product surfaces the ISS to war widow(er) cardholders as a payment they may be missing, because many recipients of the War Widow's Pension do not realise a separate, means-tested income support payment is also available to them.

How To Apply

The channel is online through DVA, with war widow(er) status as the basis. If you receive the War Widow's/Widower's Pension, you claim the ISS separately as income support.

• Confirm you receive the War Widow's/Widower's Pension.
• Claim the ISS with DVA and provide income and assets details for the means test.
• The ISS is then paid on top of the compensation pension, up to the ceiling.

Read the official DVA Income Support Supplement guidance

Rule-Based Scenarios

Scenario 1: war widow on a modest income

A war widow receives the War Widow's Pension and has only a small amount of other income. She claims the ISS and receives close to the ceiling of about $363.80 per fortnight on top of her compensation pension.

Scenario 2: part rate under the income test

A war widower has investment income above the ISS free area. His ISS is reduced under the income test, so he receives a part rate rather than the ceiling — still a useful top-up.

Scenario 3: not claiming the supplement at all

A war widow assumes the War Widow's Pension is all she is entitled to and never claims the ISS. Because the ISS is a separate, means-tested payment, she misses an income support top-up she qualifies for until it is flagged to her.

Scenario 4: assets test binding

A war widow(er) homeowner with significant financial assets finds the assets test reduces the ISS more than the income test would, so the assets test sets their part rate.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming the War Widow's Pension is all you can get: the ISS is a separate income support payment paid on top of the compensation pension.
• Expecting it to be automatic: the ISS must be claimed; it does not start automatically with the War Widow's Pension.
• Treating the ceiling as guaranteed: the ISS is income and assets tested, so the $363.80 ceiling is the maximum and many receive less.
• Confusing it with the Age Pension: the ISS has its own ceiling rate because it sits alongside the War Widow's Pension; it is not the standard age pension maximum.
• Claiming through Centrelink: the ISS is a DVA payment for war widow(er)s — claim through DVA.
• Forgetting the attached concessions: war widow(er) pensioners hold a DVA Gold Card with wide health and concession access.

Related Benefits

• DVA War Widow(er)'s Pension — the compensation pension the ISS is paid alongside.
• DVA Service Pension — single — income support for veterans with qualifying service.
• DVA Orphan's Pension — for the children of deceased veterans.
• Age Pension — single — the Centrelink income support alternative.
• DVA Veterans' Supplement — phone and pharmaceutical cost help.
• Pensioner Concession Card — concession access for pensioners.

Frequently Asked Questions