Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Warren Snowdon, said more than 200,000 service pensioners and war widows have received a household assistance advance payment of $250 for singles or $380 for couples combined.

Veterans and war widows received these payments straight into their bank accounts, ahead of the carbon price introduction on 1 July.

As well as this, more than 110,000 veterans and their families, including eligible DVA Disability pensioners and Seniors Supplement recipients, also received a lump sum payment ranging from $30 to $380.

From March next year eligible members of the veteran and defence community will receive an ongoing boost to their payments.

For more information on household assistance to the veteran and defence community, visit www.dva.gov.au/householdassistance or call 133 254 (1800 555 254 for regional callers).