For over a decade, veterans under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 had to continually obtain documentation from Department of Veteran Affairs and verify their eligibility for a concession in person. This placed undue burden and stress on them.
From Saturday 1 July 2023, eligible veterans will receive a concession on registration and licence products by simply providing Service NSW their file number. Additionally, as a pensioner their vehicle registration will be automatically renewed, provided their file number is recorded, and green slip and pink slip (if required) are received.
Minister for Roads John Graham said:
“The previous process was inefficient and at times distressing, with NSW Veterans continually attending Service NSW service centres to re-establish their eligibility for a concession.
“This change will see their Department of Veteran Affairs Gold Card validate automatically, with eligible concessions applied to licence and vehicle registration products.”
Minister for Veterans David Harris said:
“This initiative will have significant benefits for our Veterans and Wholly Dependent Partners. We’re going to improve the customer experience for our veterans by automatically validating their Gold Card and remove the burden of visiting a service centre to re-establish their pensioner status, every year.”
Member for Campbelltown Greg Warren said:
“This is a sensible and necessary step forward for veterans, removing the unnecessary red tape and burden from having to continually attend a Service NSW centre, to re-establish their eligibility for concessions.
This is an issue that has been raised regularly with me by fellow veterans. We had a commitment in opposition to address this issue and I am delighted to see this happen now.”
NSW Veterans and eligible concession holders can also now renew their licence online if they meet the required criteria.
For more information, see Registration concessions and automatic renewal for pensioners.