Australians who were exposed to radiation from nuclear bombs while in the military services have welcomed the Federal Government's decision to give them a veterans' Gold Card.

The Gold Card, which covers health costs, had not been available to those sent to Hiroshima in the 1940s and those who were at British test sites in Western Australia and South Australia.

But that is set to change, with $133 million allocated for survivors in the federal budget.

Speaking in Mandurah, the Member for Canning and former SAS captain, Andrew Hastie, said there was a high cancer rate among the RAN sailors sent to the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia.

"These men worked on the islands only four years after the first atomic test with no protective gear," he said.

"Many were on [the] deck of their ships and fully exposed during a subsequent test, in very close proximity to the explosion.

"Of the surviving 51 members who have been surveyed, 43 per cent have had some kind of cancer. Of the 28 who have already passed on, 14 have died from cancer.

"This is a story of young Australians who answered their country's call during the period of national service — they served in dangerous and hazardous conditions in the Montebello Islands."

RAN sailors witnessed nuclear testing in the Montebello Islands. ( Supplied: Michael Rowe )

A long fight for recognition

HMAS Junee was about 11 kilometres from the epicentre of a test in May 1956, while HMAS Fremantle was about 17 kilometres away.

Bevan Pearce, a constituent of Mr Hastie's, was a national serviceman who was on the Fremantle.

"I can't fully express the appreciation of our group to the fact that we're going to get a Gold Card," he said.

"The incidence of cancer amongst our fellows has been very great.

"To think that we've got a Gold Card and we can stop worrying about the expenses of medical bills and all the benefits a Gold Card gives you, it's what we've been praying for for a long, long time."

Australians were included in the occupation force sent to Hiroshima in 1946, the year after the city was devastated by an atomic bomb.

Others were involved in later nuclear tests at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia.

The ensuing decades have seen the men, their relatives and advocates campaigning for recognition of their unique claims and problems.

Gold Card a 'good first step'

Sailors sent to the Montebello Islands have had high rates of cancer. ( ABC News: Emily Piesse )

Secretary of the Australian Ex-Services Atomic Survivors Association Jim Marlow met the Veterans Affairs Minister in October and presented him with nine options to consider.

Among these options was the Gold Card, despite Mr Marlow already holding one due to his service in Malaya.

Mr Marlow said the Gold Card was a good first step, and was accepted "with glee".

WA Greens senator Scott Ludlam said the Gold Card decision was "unambiguously good news".

"We've been working on this for nine years and the servicemen that we've been working with have been working on it for 50 or 60 years, so it should've come sooner, but we're delighted that it's happening at all," he said.

"If they'd been bombed by Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany they would've been eligible for the Gold Card.

"Because it was an ally who bombed them, they weren't eligible for this health care."

Failure to deem atomic survivors service as 'warlike'

But Mr Marlow also spoke of the effort to gain official recognition, complicated by lost or faulty records and promises from politicians that fell through.

"The claims that we make are quite reasonable, I feel, they're backed up by the evidence from our point of view," he said.

"The Government's answer comes back 'we have no evidence to support your claims'."

Mr Marlow says a key issue has been the failure to deem the atomic survivors' service as 'warlike', which would have opened up access to a war service pension.

The war pension is something Prime Minister Ben Chifley promised the members of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force would be entitled to.

"They do virtually deny our existence. As long as they continue that aspect they're never going to get over it because we're not going away yet!"