Financial Hardship Policy
We are here to help. We will work with you to respond to financial difficulty, whether temporary or long-term. We are committed to helping customers facing financial hardship maintain access to telecommunications services and finding a sustainable solution together. Any assistance we provide will depend on your individual circumstances and is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Our Definition of Financial Hardship
We use the definition established by the ACIF Credit Management Code:
“A situation where a customer is unable, reasonably, because of illness, unemployment or other reasonable cause, to discharge their financial obligations under their contract with the supplier, and the customer reasonably expects to be able to discharge those obligations if payment and/or service arrangements were changed. Financial hardship can be of limited or long-term duration.”
Common causes of financial hardship include:
Loss of employment by the customer or a family member
Family breakdown
Illness, physical incapacity, hospitalisation, or mental illness of the customer or a family member
A death in the family
Heavy or unexpected use of the service
Unauthorised use of the service by a third party
Natural disaster
Identifying Financial Hardship
We consider financial hardship to involve a genuine, ongoing inability to pay – not an unwillingness to do so.
To apply this policy, you must satisfy Us that you are experiencing financial hardship as defined above. This determination is made by Us at Our sole discretion.
We encourage you to provide third-party evidence where possible, such as a report from a financial counsellor, bank, or Centrelink.
You may ask Us to deal with a Financial Counsellor on Your behalf. The customer must be present during any such discussion, or We must have received prior written authority to speak with the Counsellor on their behalf.
Customers who have transferred all services to another provider but retain an outstanding balance with Us are not eligible for Our Financial Hardship Program.
Reaching a Financial Arrangement
Once We agree that You are experiencing financial hardship, We may, at Our discretion, agree to a temporary financial arrangement that differs from Your standard terms.
Any agreed arrangement will be structured so that repayments cover expected future service use and provide a reasonable reduction of existing debt over time. The arrangement should not result in the customer accruing further debt.
Contact Us
To discuss this policy, please contact our team on 02 8332 3030 (option 3), Monday to Friday, 10am – 5pm.
Finding a Financial Counsellor
You can speak to a free phone financial counsellor from anywhere in Australia by calling 1800 007 007, available Monday to Friday, minimum hours 9:30am – 4:30pm. The call will automatically connect you to the service nearest to you.
You can also find a financial counselling service near you at financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au.
