We understand that financial hardship is about your inability to pay us rather than an unwillingness to do so. It can be either limited or long term in duration, and may come about due to a variety of factors or events, such as: The loss of employment of you or a family member; A family breakdown; Illness including physical incapacity, hospitalization, the mental illness of the consumer or a family member, a death in the family; Natural We provide a range of payment and service options to help in such situations, so if you have having a problem with paying your bill, or you wish to discuss options available to you to minimize your bill, call our Billing Team on 1300 55 1428. You can reach us Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time and Australian Eastern Summertime. Our staff is trained to be sensitive and empathetic and to act with understanding whilst managing the situation within business requirements. They are able to accept reasonable payment arrangements, taking into account your individual circumstances. Please remember that the earlier you contact us, the better. Discussing your concerns gives us the opportunity to help you manage your bills.

A financial arrangement is generally structured around a payment plan to help you repay the debt at a rate you can manage. When we agree on a financial arrangement we understand that repayments should be sufficient to cover expected future use of the service as well as providing continued reduction of debt at a reasonable level to ensure that you do not go further into debt under the arrangement. To help us make an assessment we may need to ask you some questions about your financial hardship. We may also require documentation in support of the information you provide to us. Examples of this include a letter from your doctor if your hardship is due to illness, or a letter from a recognized financial counsellor indicating you have consulted them. If we will require such supporting information from you, we will advise you at the time we discuss your situation.

We understand that each instance of financial hardship is unique and therefore requires us to work with you to tailor a flexible solution to your needs. We also understand that this may require amending over time as your situation changes. As well as a financial arrangement or payment plan, some of the options we may discuss with you to assist you keep connected include (but are not limited to): Placing a restriction on part of your service or specific Transferring you to a pre-paid Low cost interim options for you until you can continue with the original

Whilst we will discuss a range of options for you, some of the common ones we will consider in order to assist you include: Temporarily postponing or deferring. Agreeing on an alternative arrangement Discounting or waiving certain administrative fees and Once a payment arrangement has been made, if we have concerns about your financial situation, we may suspend or disconnect your service; however disconnection of your service is used only as a last resort, and we will endeavor to work with you to ensure this does not happen. Should your circumstance change at any time whilst on a payment plan, please contact us as soon as possible so we can reassess your situation.