DVA Podiatry · Gold & White Card

Podiatry care for veterans, billed direct to DVA.

If you hold a DVA Gold Card or a White Card with a podiatry-relevant condition, your podiatry care at Ace Health Centre is bulk-billed under the DVA fee schedule. No out-of-pocket, no claim forms, no gap.

Book an assessment Call (07) 5572 6222

Gold Card or White Card — here’s the difference at the front desk.

A Gold Card covers all clinically necessary podiatry. You book in, we treat you, we bill DVA directly under the DVA fee schedule. No referral, no condition restriction, no paperwork on your end.

A White Card covers podiatry only for conditions DVA has formally accepted as service-related — usually the conditions listed on the back of your card or in your DVA acceptance letter. Bring that letter or the card itself to the first appointment and we’ll work out what’s covered before we treat. Anything outside the accepted conditions you can still see us for, just on a normal podiatry rebate basis.

Either way, you don’t pay us a cent for the covered visit. DVA pays the fee schedule; we wear the gap.

What we treat under DVA

Six podiatry concerns DVA cards routinely cover.

Service-related and age-related foot problems show up in patterns. These are the ones we see most often from Gold Coast veterans.

Diabetic foot care

Routine review for service-related or age-onset diabetes — sensory testing, vascular assessment, nail and callus management, footwear advice. The kind of regular foot care that prevents the bigger problems.

Ingrown and thickened toenails

Conservative trimming, partial nail avulsion under local anaesthetic where needed, and ongoing maintenance for nails too thick to manage at home. Same-week appointments when the pain is acute.

Heel and arch pain

Plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, Achilles tendinopathy — the chronic foot pain that built up over years of standing, marching or running. Assessment plus a graded treatment plan that we document for DVA.

Knee, hip and lower-back gait issues

Where the problem upstairs is actually starting at the foot. Biomechanical assessment, gait analysis, and where indicated, custom DVA-funded orthotics to redistribute load and quieten the symptoms.

Skin lesions and chronic wounds

Cracked heels, persistent callus, corns, fissures, slow-healing wounds. DVA covers active management plus the offloading and dressings needed to keep them quiet.

Custom orthotics and footwear

Gold Card members are entitled to DVA-funded custom orthotics when clinically justified. We scan, prescribe, fit and review under the DVA Rehabilitation Appliances Program (RAP). Approved footwear sits under the same program.

How DVA billing works at our clinic

Three steps from booking to bulk-billed visit.

Bring the card.

Book online or by phone. On the first visit, bring your Gold or White Card and (for White Card) your DVA acceptance letter. We photograph and verify the card details, file them, and the rest is admin you don’t see.

Standard podiatry assessment.

Identical to any first podiatry visit — history, footwear, biomechanical and skin assessment, and a treatment plan. Everything we do gets coded to the DVA fee schedule items so the claim goes through cleanly.

We bill DVA, you walk out.

No payment at the desk, no claim form, no Medicare card swipe. We submit the claim electronically to DVA after the appointment; they pay us under the fee schedule. The fee covers our time, so there’s no gap for you.

What a DVA appointment actually looks like.

The first visit takes a bit longer than a return appointment — usually 45 minutes — because we’re building your history from scratch. After that, ongoing reviews are 30 minutes. Same room, same podiatrist, same chair each time as much as we can arrange.

We don’t mind talking through your service history if it’s relevant to what we’re looking at — load, posture, footwear, terrain — but we don’t need it for billing. The card and acceptance letter are all DVA needs from us.

If you’d rather skip the small talk and just get your nails sorted, that’s fine too. We work the way you want to work.

Gold vs White Card — quick reference

What each card opens up at the front desk.

Gold Card.

All clinically necessary podiatry care, no referral required, no condition restriction. We bulk-bill DVA. RAP-funded custom orthotics and approved footwear are available when clinically justified. Book any time.

White Card — accepted condition.

If the foot or lower-limb condition is on your DVA acceptance letter, you’re covered the same as a Gold Card holder — bulk-billed, no out-of-pocket. Bring the letter (or photograph it on your phone) so we can confirm before treating.

White Card — condition not accepted.

We can still see you for foot care that falls outside your accepted conditions — on a normal podiatry rebate basis, HICAPS’d on the spot through your private health fund. It’s the same clinic and the same standard of care; only the billing changes.

Questions we get asked

Common DVA podiatry questions.

01 Do I need a GP referral?

No. DVA cardholders can self-refer to a podiatrist. Gold Card members can book directly with no paperwork at all; White Card holders should bring their acceptance letter so we can confirm the foot or lower-limb condition is on the list. If it isn’t, we can still see you — just via a different billing path.

02 Will there be a gap to pay?

No. We bulk-bill DVA at the fee schedule and that’s the end of it. No out-of-pocket, no co-payment, no “DVA top-up” charge. If a particular item isn’t covered by your card type we’ll tell you up front before doing it.

03 Can I get custom orthotics under DVA?

Yes — Gold Card members are entitled to custom orthotics through the DVA Rehabilitation Appliances Program (RAP) when there’s a clinical reason. We do the prescription, the scan, the fit and the review, and the RAP item is billed through your card. White Card members get the same when the orthotic is for an accepted condition.

04 How often can I come in?

As often as it’s clinically warranted. For diabetic foot reviews and nail care that’s usually every six to eight weeks; for treatment courses (heel pain, post-surgery) it might be weekly for a while then taper. DVA doesn’t impose a session cap, but we won’t book you in more frequently than the clinical need.

05 Can I bring my partner or a carer?

Always welcome. Many of our veterans come in with a spouse or carer, especially for first visits or when mobility is an issue. The clinic is wheelchair-accessible and our consult rooms have space for a support person.

06 What if I’ve lost my card?

Come in anyway. We can verify DVA cover through your name, date of birth and service number — or you can ring DVA on 1800 555 254 from our front desk and have them email you a copy of your card on the spot. We’ve done that more than once.

DVA Gold & White Card welcome · HICAPS on the spot with every major fund · NDIS self/plan-managed too.