DVA and Open Arms
DVA and Open Arms counselling: two different pathways
"DVA counselling" usually means one of two structurally different things — general DVA treatment, or the separate Open Arms panel. They're gated differently, paid differently, and worth not conflating.
Written by Steve Daniel, founder of Zenvia — GAICD · MBA · Master of IT · Author, Cybersecurity for Australian Not-for-Profits · Last reviewed October 2026
Two pathways, not one
General DVA treatment vs Open Arms
General DVA treatment
For Gold and White Card holders, billed almost exactly like Medicare. Registration is largely automatic once you hold a Medicare provider number — which means it's gated the same way Medicare Better Access is: AHPRA-registered psychologists and AASW-accredited social workers, not counsellors registered only with PACFA or ACA. A GP referral covers up to 12 sessions or one year. From 1 July 2027, the government has proposed removing this 12-session treatment cycle and replacing it with a $5,000 annual cap shared across bundled allied health services (physio, psychology, OT, exercise physiology, podiatry and dietetics) — this hasn't taken effect yet and has drawn pushback, so check DVA's own page for the current status before relying on it. Claims go through DVA Webclaim, Medicare Online claiming, or practice software with DVA claim-type support — a real integration, not an emailed invoice.
Open Arms (Veterans & Families Counselling)
A separate, DVA-funded but panel-based model. You join through a formal Request for Tender process, not an open application — and the panel isn't continuously open. The most recent refresh closed in October 2024; the current panel runs to 30 June 2027, and Open Arms hasn't published a fixed date for the next refresh (monitor tenders.gov.au). Open Arms outreach providers can't charge the client anything — Open Arms pays you directly per its own published fee schedule, updated periodically and indexed to the MBS, independent of Medicare/DVA claiming systems entirely.
What Zenvia supports today
Open Arms fits; general DVA claiming doesn't, yet
Once you're on the Open Arms panel, billing them is straightforward fee-for-service invoicing — structurally the same as invoicing an EAP company, and something Zenvia handles today: tag Open Arms as the funder, send the invoice, track it against the client file. Getting onto the panel itself requires winning a tender, which is outside anything a practice platform can do for you.
General DVA treatment claiming is a different story — it needs the same PRODA (Provider Digital Access)/Medicare Online-style integration and AHPRA/AASW registration gate as Medicare Better Access, which Zenvia doesn't have yet. See our Medicare page for the detail, since the eligibility and integration story is the same.