A friend was contacted by a woman who said she was from the Australian Grants Department. She said that the government were giving away grants of up to $15,000 to low income earners. When the friend asked if it was a scam she was given a name, phone number and a case number to put her mind at ease. My friend then called Consumer Affairs ( yes she phoned them to verify if true or not),  and they advised her to HANG UP immediately on these type of calls . The government do not cold call people offering them money.

ALSO

Australia Post is alerting customers to a fake email which arrives from a sender “Australia Post” and has the subject heading “Australia Post Account Privacy Notification”.
The email provides a link to a website that resembles the standard Australia Post website and branding, and requests customers to verify their account information by entering a credit card number and providing their name and address details.

Australia Post does not send emails requesting you to confirm, update or disclose your confidential information.

BE CAREFUL !!!

An Essential Medical Equipment Payment – an annual payment of $140 to support those with higher than average energy costs because they rely on essential medical equipment at home. Persons holding a Commonwealth Government concession card or a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold or White Card; and who use certain essential medical equipment, or have certain medical conditions that require the use of additional heating and/or cooling in their home, may be entitled to claim the Essential Medical Equipment Payment

Could you please make your members aware of this as it is not an automatic payment (it affects those on CPAP devices plus other devices) and must be claimed for. You can find full details on the website www.dva.gov.au/householdassistance scroll down to Essential Medical Equipment Payment and click on ‘Read more’ for more details.

As a Veteran over 70 years old, do you hold a Gold Card?

If so, you should be aware that it does not necessarily automatically pass to your widow unless you,

- were a POW or,
- in reciept of a disability pension at the Special Rate (as a TPI) or,
- in reciept of an Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA).

If you are not in one of the categories listed above, you should make an appointment to see our Pension Officer as soon as possible.

Your spouse can apply for a Widows/widowers pension after your death – but it is very difficult to prove your death was caused by service related causes posthumously. Your spouse should see our pension officer as soon as possible.

Pension Officer:   Anthony  Woolley  Ph: 52581041

It should be noted that EDA veterans, as with other war veteran categories, will need to separately demonstrate proof of overseas war service  at the time of application for a public transport travel pass. You will also need to provide with the application form:
· A colour copy of your DVA Gold Card embossed EDA; and
· A strip of four (4) passport sized photographs.

The new applications are expected to be finalised by mid-January 2012. In the meantime, for those veterans who are EDA recipients and who do not have a Victorian Public Transport free travel pass, please contact Mr Jeff Jackson at ANZAC House on (03) 9655-5531 and leave your name, address and contact telephone number and when the new application form is available, he will send you out a copy in the mail.  If you have any further questions or queries please contact Mr Jackson.

It is important to remember that if you are going to travel both overseas and within Australia you must notify DVA in case you need support while you are away from home. DVA have said that unless they have been notified, they may not be able to help you. It is worth a quick phone call to register before you leave.

Goodwill Care Packages for Overseas Serving  ADF Members

Following requests from a number of community-based organisations and private citizens, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has established special mailing addresses for members of the public to send Christmas goodwill care packages to Australian service men and women serving on operations overseas.
The Director of Supply Chain Operations to deployed forces, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Rosenberger said he continues to be amazed by the number of ordinary Australians who want to show their support to ADF personnel currently serving overseas.
“Serving on operations over the Christmas period is more difficult when you are missing family and friends who are celebrating Christmas at home. So this shows deployed ADF personnel their sacrifices are appreciated by the wider public too”.
Members of the public are able to send parcels through Australia Post, so long as they do not exceed a two kilogram cubic weight limit. Items weighing up to two kilograms and posted in a ‘BM’ size Australia Post carton can be posted without cost to the sender. Parcels exceeding this limit will incur full postal charges which must be paid by the sender.
The postal addresses are active from 7 November until 9 December 2011 and packages will be distributed throughout the operational areas. For postal security reasons, parcels must be posted in person with presentation of photograph identification and can be lodged at any Australia Post outlet.

All the details necessary for sending care packages can be found athttp://www.defence.gov.au/christmas/mail/index.htm

Care package items most appreciated include uniquely Australian treats such as lollies, magazines, books and DVDs.
“On behalf of those members of the ADF who will receive care packages this Christmas, I would like to thank the public and community groups, particularly the RSL, for their thoughtfulness and kindness,” Lieutenant Colonel Rosenberger said.

Confirmed by DVA Brisbane and advised that it is not just National Servicemen that are being targeted, it is also veterans, national servicemen and anyone remotely connected with the Australian Defence Forces.
BE AWARE & WARNED!  
A timely warning indeed and you can check it out at http://www.dva.gov.au/news_archive/Documents/scams.pdf Check out scams etc at http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/scamwatch/

The ex serviceman is initially sent a letter advising them that they are entitled to Service pension and to contact the author. Once they do this they are then sent a letter with AMF (not used for many years) headed paper asking for bank details to put the service pension into, date of birth and other personal  information. Their bank accounts are then cleaned out.

Please advise as many others as possible of this scam.

There is a popular myth that the Gold Repatriation Health Card for All Conditions is automatically transferred to the surviving partner when the eligible veteran dies. This is not strictly so.
For the surviving partner to be eligible for the Gold Card, they must first qualify as a war widow/er. The Gold Card is a benefit that derives from war widow/er  status.
There are some circumstances where war widow/er status is granted automatically to the spouse. These include all combat deaths (since 1 July 2004), deaths of ex-POW’s and veterans receiving the Extreme Disablement Adjustment or Special Rate Disability Pension at the time of death.
Other examples are outlined in DVA Factsheets.
If a partner is not in the automatic grant category, they will need to make a separate claim to have their partner’s death accepted as related to service. If the claim succeeds and they are granted war widows/ers status, Gold Card eligibility will automatically follow.
For those whose partners died from an injury or illness which has already been accepted as service related, the claim will proceed easily. But for those whose partners died of conditions not previously claimed (or perhaps even rejected), all the causes of death will be investigated by the delegate before deciding whether or not the claim can be accepted.
Some partners who are veterans may qualify for a Gold Card in their own right.
More information is available on DVA Fact sheets IS160, HSV 59 and HSV 60.

Contact our Pensions Officer, Anthony Woolley 5258 1041 for more information.

DON’T LEAVE IT UNTIL IT’S TO LATE.

Veterans can arrange their own DVA transport

Regarding DVA transport arrangements to medical appointments, eligible veterans and widows can ring DVA TRANSPORT directly to arrange transport to and from your medical appointment.  The number to call is 1800 550 455.and you should ring a day or two before your appointment

You will need to provide:

• DVA File number,
• The medical or allied health practioner’s name and address 
•  The time of the appointment 
• You will also be asked if an attendant (usually a partner, family member or carer) will be travelling with you.
• Eligible persons are those with a Gold Card issued in their own name or those with a White Card seeking treatment for an accepted medical condition.
• Medical providers can still contact the DVA on behalf of the veteran or widow to book transport or a Reimbursement for Travel Claim form (D800) can be lodged to if the veteran/widow chooses to make their own arrangements and then seek reimbursement of travel costs.

 Please check your utility bills, both gas and electricity, to ensure your due concessions are being applied.
It has come to our attention that utility companies are not automatically applying your concession once your card has reached its expiry date.