Financial Hardship is a term used to describe a situation where a person is unable to meet their financial commitments due to one or more factors contributing to their financial position. Common contributing factors include:
- Loss of employment of you or a family member;
- Illness, including physical incapacity, hospitalisation or mental illness of you or a family member;
- Family breakdown;
- A death in the family;
- Other factors resulting in an unforeseen change in your capacity to meet their payment; obligations, whether through a reduction in income or through an increase in non-discretionary expenditure.
If you are having a problem paying your bill, or you wish to discuss options available to you to minimise your bill, call Customer Service today on 1300 857 456.
Monday – Friday | 9am - 6pm AEDST
The earlier you contact us, the better. Discussing your concerns gives us the opportunity to help you manage your bills.
If you do require time to pay an outstanding amount, agreeing to a payment plan and sticking to it can help prevent disconnection or restriction of your service. Disconnection of your service is used only as a last resort, and we will endeavour to work with you to ensure this does not happen.
To assist us in establishing the level of support you require, dependent on your individual circumstance, we may request supporting evidence, including, but not limited to:
- Documentation such as a statutory declaration from a person familiar with your circumstances (family doctor, clergy, bank officer, etc);
- Evidence of you having consulted with, and/or being accompanied by a recognised financial counsellor or a booking to see a financial counsellor.
Minimising your Debt
There are options available for minimising your debts and staying connected whilst managing your spending. Examples include:
- Call barring;
- Reconnection of a service with restricted access;
- Plan change;
- Cancel any content subscription or premium services (e.g. ringtones, jokes, pictures, etc);
- You can access the "My Account" system via our website, which offers Account Management across all services such as checking your usage.
Further Options
There is also a range of other financial support services available such as free financial counselling services offered in each state and territory in Australia. For more information on these and other options available please see the ACMA's website.
