Average DVA payout for a shoulder injury in 2026
Shoulders are rated on lost movement or how much they limit your arm, whichever is higher. Rotator cuff syndrome and dislocations now have clear acceptance rules.
Rates and rules checked October 2026
Where shoulder injury sits on the impairment scale
Use of one arm is rated up to 60 points. The shading spans the worked examples below.
What shoulder injury pays at 2026 rates
These examples run typical ratings through DVA's compensation tables. Operations service (warlike or non-warlike) pays more than peacetime service at the same rating, up to 80 points where they meet.
| Example | Points | Operations service | Peacetime service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild pain and loss of reach Use of the arm 5 | 5 | Under 10 points: not paid on its own, but counts towards your combined rating | |
| Can't lift overhead, pain at rest Range of movement 10 combined with pain 5 | 15 | $69.35/wk $84,746 lump sum | $38.92/wk $47,560 lump sum |
| Recurrent dislocation, weak arm Use of the arm 20, higher than the dislocation rating of 5 | 20 | $99.32/wk $121,369 lump sum | $55.48/wk $67,797 lump sum |
Estimate your own
Run your own numbers
Estimate under the MRCA at 1 July 2026 rates. Takes about a minute.
Drag the marker to your combined impairment points.
An estimate only, not what DVA will decide. Based on GARP M 2026 and DVA's published maximum of $447.39 a week.
Get a free claim checkHow DVA rates shoulder injury
- Range of movement (Table 3.1.1): 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 points.
- Use of the whole arm (Table 3.1.2): 0, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 points.
- Dislocation (Table 3.1.5): nil for a single dislocation, 2 for recurrent dislocation that's been surgically fixed, 5 if it hasn't, and 10 if it's left you with movement restricted to stop it happening again.
- Pain at rest (Table 3.4.1): 0, 2, 5, 10 or 15 points.
Movement and use are compared and the higher is taken. If a dislocation is behind the problem, the dislocation rating is compared with the part of your arm rating it causes, and again the higher counts, so the two aren't stacked. A pain-at-rest rating is combined with the result using the Combined Values Chart. Each arm is rated separately.
Is shoulder injury accepted on diagnosis?
From 1 July 2026, rotator cuff syndrome is accepted if it started during service or within a month after it, with either more than 210 days of peacetime service (not counting the first 210) or more than 120 days of warlike or non-warlike service (not counting the first 120). Dislocations, labral tears, sprains, strains and fractures are accepted for any length of service if they happened during service.
All new claims are decided under the MRCA from 1 July 2026. If you lodged before then, your claim is decided under the Act that applied when you lodged. What changed.
Common questions
Is a shoulder injury accepted by DVA?
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