Compassionate travel in Australia

You and your partner can apply for compassionate travel to visit family who are seriously ill An illness or injury that could endanger a person's life or place them in immediate danger.  or who have recently died.

You can apply to visit your:

• recognised family
• sibling
• parent or guardian
• resident family.

If you're visiting a seriously ill person who isn't your recognised family, you must be the only person who can attend to them.

You may also apply to visit a recognised other person if:

• they are seriously ill
• no one else can care for them. 

You partner can apply for compassionate travel to visit:

• their own child, you or your child who is seriously ill
• you, their child, parent, guardian, sibling or dependant who is very seriously ill or has recently died
• their parent, guardian or sibling or who is seriously ill and no one else can help them.

If you have a child and no one can look after them while you’re away, your child can travel with you. Your child’s travel costs can also be covered.

Other reasons for travel

You may get compassionate travel to visit a family member in other circumstances. These are decided on a case-by-case basis.

You can travel by the fastest mode of publicly available transport to your destination. You must use the most economical means Based on where you're travelling to, the types of transport available, the actual cost and the estimated value of your pay and allowances for travel time. of transport for your return journey.

You can use your own vehicle in some cases. If you need to travel overseas, you can apply for the cost of travel to your closest international port.

You can’t include meals, accommodation or international travel.

You can’t apply for compassionate travel if you’re on leave without pay or have already claimed the journey under the Australians dangerously ill scheme.

If COVID-19 travel restrictions have stopped you from using compassionate travel to visit a recently deceased person, you can apply to use this travel up to 12 months after the restrictions lift. You can use the travel to attend that person's memorial service.

You can claim isolation or quarantine costs as part of your compassionate travel if you're told that you have to isolate or quarantine somewhere other than your home.

If you're not told where to isolate or quarantine, and you can't isolate or quarantine at home, you will receive a travel allowance to cover the costs of your accommodation, meals and incidental expenses.

To apply, submit a Travel request (AE505) form. You can download this from the intranet Forms tab on the Defence Protected Network (DPN). Supporting documents may be required.

The Defence Travel Services (DTS) user guide and FAQs explain how to complete the form. You can find them on the Defence intranet by navigating to the TravelConnect home page then selecting Defence Travel Services from the side menu.