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  • Get support
    The support you may be able to get depends on your circumstances.
    Currently serving
    While serving, the NZDF will take care of your health and wellbeing issues. If you have qualifying service, we may be able to provide you with home help. Register now with Veterans’ Affairs, and when you need some support, we’ll be ready to help you.
    Ex-serving
    We can provide you with health, rehabilitation and financial support if you have a condition related to your service. We can also provide home help assistance and financial support for you to commemorate your service.
    Family and whānau
    How we can support you, your family and whānau.
    Non-military personnel
    Non-military personnel can have Qualifying Operational Service in certain circumstances.
    A-Z list of services and entitlements
    View all of the services and entitlements available to qualifying veterans and their family and whānau.
  • Remembrance
    We're proud to honour the service of the veteran community.
    Services Cemeteries and plaques and headstones
    We help look after Services Cemeteries. We're also able to contribute towards plaques and headstones.
    Commemorative funding
    There are two types of financial contributions available from the Commemorative Fund.
    Medals and service records
    The NZ Defence Force's Personnel Archives and Medals team ​administer medals and hold most New Zealand military service records.
    ​When someone dies
    We may be able to provide support when someone who had Qualifying Service dies.
    Your family's military history
    Learning more about your family's military history is a great way to honour their service.
    Certificate of Appreciation and Veterans' Pins
    The Certificate of Appreciation and Veteran's Pin recognise operational service.
    NZ Post Stamps
    This series of stamps explores the stories of 6 veterans deployed after 1995. You can purchase the stamps on the NZ Post website.
  • Eligibility
    To be eligible to receive support from us, you — or certain family members — need to have Qualifying Service.
    Check your eligibility
    Check the support, services, or entitlements you may be able to get from us.
    Qualifying Service
    To get support from us you — or certain family members — need to have Qualifying Service.
    Living outside NZ
    You can still get support from us even if you live outside NZ.
    Eligibility criteria for family and dependants
    You may be able to get support if you're the spouse, partner, child or dependant of someone with Qualifying Service.
    Veterans of foreign militaries
    Veterans' Affairs New Zealand was established to support New Zealand veterans.
  • For clients
    We put veterans and our clients at the heart of everything we do.
    If you have a question at any stage, please contact us — we're here to help.
    How we'll work with you
    We'll work with you to help you get the best support available.
    Your treatment card
    Your treatment card helps you get no-cost treatment and medication for your approved conditions.
    Your rights and responsibilities
    ​We want to make sure you have the best possible experience when you deal with us.
    Payments
    Information on payment rates and dates.
    How we make decisions
    We use a number of tools and processes to make decisions. This helps ensure each decision we make is fair and treats our clients consistently.​
    Living outside NZ
    You can still get support from us even if you live outside NZ.
    Other benefits
    You may be able to access a range of discounts and benefits. Not only that, your family may get access too.
    Information about claims
    Information on processing times, how to make a claim, and what happens next.
  • For providers
    Information for providers of services to Veterans' Affairs and our clients.
    Treatment cards and letters
    To help you identify our clients, we issue treatment cards and letters.
    Invoicing us
    How to invoice us to ensure we pay you quickly and correctly.
    Treating our clients
    Information for healthcare professionals providing treatment to our clients.
    Councils and local authorities
    Guidance for councils and local authorities relating to services cemeteries and memorials
    Forms
    Forms for our clients, family and whānau, and our providers.
    Audiologists
    Schedules of fees, invoicing and application instructions, and information for treating hearing needs.
    How military service affects the health of veterans
    Veterans can experience physical and mental health conditions disproportionately compared to the general public. Different NZDF 'operations' may be linked to higher rates of specific conditions. Understanding a veteran's service can help you to understand their health.
Check Your Eligibility
Check Your Eligibility

Our history

The history of support for veterans as a timeline

  • Step 1 1915

    The War Pensions Act 1915 provided for War Pensions Boards to administer war pensions. The boards contained three, then later four people, at least one of whom had to be a medical practitioner.

  • Step 2 1918

    The War Pensions Act was modified to include a Royal New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association (RNZRSA) representative on the Boards.

  • Step 3 1922

    Responsibility for treatment was transferred from the Pensions Department to the Defence Department.

  • Step 4 1939

    The role of Secretary for War Pensions was established.

  • Step 5 1954

    The Department of Social Security was made responsible for administering the War Pensions Act 1954, with the Minister of Defence as responsible Minister.

  • Step 6 1972

    The Department of Social Welfare succeeded the Department of Social Security.

  • Step 7 1989

    Decision-making was vested in the Secretary for War Pensions, who could delegate this to district offices. The War Pensions Board was abolished and replaced by Claims Panels in each district, composed of an RNZRSA representative and a Department of Social Welfare official and served by the Department of Social Welfare. Advice from a medical officer was sought on claims; this would be considered by both a departmental officer and an RNZRSA nominee. Provision was also introduced for intermediate review by a National Review Officer. The Claims Panels would travel around New Zealand, and the RNZRSA representative would be from the local district.

  • Step 8 1998–1999

    The Department of Social Welfare was disestablished and replaced with stand-alone agencies: Ministry of Social Development and Work and Income New Zealand. The Department of Work and Income was given responsibility for the administration of the War Pensions Act.

  • Step 9 1999

    The Cabinet agreed to the establishment of a semi-autonomous Office of Veterans’ Affairs within the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).

  • Step 10 2001

    The responsibility for the War Claims Panels transferred from Work and Income to Veterans’ Affairs. The 21 Claims Panels were replaced with two full-time panellists qualified to assess health and disability needs.

  • Step 11 2008

    Veterans’ Affairs became an operational unit of NZDF, absorbed MSD’s War Pensions Unit, retained its own Minister and took on full responsibility for providing veterans’ entitlements except for the Veterans’ Pension, which MSD took responsibility for in 2014.

  • Step 12 2008–2014

    Veterans’ Affairs had two offices — one in Wellington and the other in Hamilton. The Hamilton office had originally been a unit of the Ministry of Social Development and was responsible for managing war pensions.

  • Step 13 2014

    Following a legislative review by the Law Commission, the Veterans’ Support Act 2014 replaced the War Pensions Act 1954.

  • Step 14 2015

    The introduction of the Veterans’ Support Act 2014 was followed by significant structural and administrative changes. The Hamilton office was closed, and all staff were moved into a single Wellington office. A new information technology system was introduced (encompassing client records and payment functions) and new operational policies were developed along with regulations for Scheme Two and a Code of Veterans’ and Other Claimants’ Rights.

  • Step 15 2016

    Veterans’ Affairs had 68 staff members.

  • Step 16 2018

    The 2018 Paterson Review of Veterans’ Affairs concluded that the organisation was “under-staffed and under-resourced to deliver the entitlements, services and support for which it has responsibility.”

About Veterans' Affairs

Last Modified: 10 March 2025
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