The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) is the most recent of the three Acts and covers ADF members whose service began on or after 1 July 2004.
The MRCA provides compensation through Initial Liability (accepting your condition as service-related), Permanent Impairment (lump sum for stable conditions), and Incapacity Payments (lost income support).
Since 1 July 2026, the MRCA is the single Act for all new compensation claims through the VETS Act changes. The "improved MRCA" includes changes such as presumptive liability for some conditions. Since 1 July 2026 there is an additional way liability can be established under the improved MRCA. A determination under MRCA s 27A lists certain injuries and diseases as attributable to specified kinds of defence service. Where the presumption is relied on, attribution under MRCA s 27(b) can be determined without applying the ordinary Statements of Principles pathway. It can apply whether or not a Statement of Principles exists for the condition, and it can be rebutted. This tool does not work out whether it applies to your claim. The determination is published on the Federal Register of Legislation as F2026L00740. DVA and a qualified advocate can tell you whether it applies to you. Source: Federal Register of Legislation, F2026L00740. Commenced 1 July 2026. Verified 22 August 2026. Permanent impairment continues to be assessed across all of your accepted conditions combined, a rule that pre-dates the 2026 changes.
Under MRCA, Permanent Impairment is generally paid as a lump sum based on impairment points. The Gold Card is available at 60 or more impairment points.