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MILITARY VETERANS: HEALTHCARE BENEFITS REGULATIONS TO BE REPLACED
- 30 January 2026
- Health & Safety
- SA Legal Academy
The Department of Military Veterans intends replacing certain healthcare provisions in the broader 2014 military veterans benefits regulations and has gazetted the changes envisaged, calling for public comments. The deadline for input is 1 March 2026.
Once finalised and in force, the proposed new healthcare sections of the broader benefits regulations will prescribe:
- eligibility and qualifying criteria
- the procedures to be followed when
- applying for healthcare benefits, and
- accessing healthcare services at state or designated private facilities
- related supporting documentation
- the claims procedure
- services not covered, and
- appeals.
The overarching objective of what is envisaged is to ‘facilitate, co-ordinate and improve’ access to comprehensive, quality healthcare services by military veterans as defined for in the 2011 Military Veterans Act. However, no mention is made of chronic conditions resulting from participation in military activities – for which the broader 2014 regulations expressly provide. These are:
- ‘disabling injury’
- ‘severe psychological and neuro-psychiatric trauma’ (also referred to as ‘serious mental illness’ and ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’), and
- ‘terminal disease’.
Neither do the proposed new healthcare sections include specific provisions for the ‘dedicated counselling’ outlined in the broader benefits regulations.
Clarity is therefore needed on precisely which sections of the 2014 regulations are to be repealed by the amendments now being proposed. This is bearing in mind that the 2014 benefits regulations also cover employment placement, business opportunity facilitation, subsidised housing and public transport, as well as burial support.
- draft amendments
- 2014 broader benefits regulations
- Act
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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