Payment Assistance

If you are having trouble paying your bill, we want to help. Applying for payment assistance is free, and our goal is to keep you connected.

Policy version 1.0, effective 20 August 2026. Next review 20 August 2027.

Payment Assistance Policy Summary

How to apply

You can apply using any of the methods below. There is no charge to apply.

If you have a disability, are from a culturally or linguistically diverse background, are a victim survivor of domestic or family violence, or have other special needs, tell us and we will help you make your application. Interpreter services are available on request, and you can contact us through the National Relay Service and ask for 03 5246 8888.

We will give you a reference number when we receive your application. Contact us using any of the methods above and quote it, and we will tell you what stage your application has reached.

Full Payment Assistance Policy

Connect Tel Pty Ltd. Version 1.0, 20 August 2026. Made in accordance with the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.

1. Our commitment

If you are having trouble paying your bill, we want to help. Our goal is to keep you connected. Disconnection is a last resort and we will work with you before it comes to that.

You have a right to apply for financial hardship assistance. Applying is free, and being assessed and having an arrangement in place costs nothing.

This policy is made in accordance with the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.

2. What financial hardship means

Financial hardship means you are unable to pay what you owe us because of your circumstances, but you believe you could pay if we agreed an arrangement with you. Circumstances include:

• Illness in your household
• Unemployment
• Low or reduced income
• Being a victim survivor of domestic or family violence
• A death in the family
• A change in your personal or family circumstances
• A natural disaster
• Unexpected events that have affected your income or expenses
• Any other reasonable cause

Short term assistance means help for up to three billing cycles. Long term assistance means help for longer than that.

3. Telling us you need help

You do not need to use the words “financial hardship”. If you tell us you are having difficulty paying, that you need help with a bill, that you want to know how to reduce your spending, or you use words like struggling, money problems, low income or cost of living, we will treat that as an indication that you may need assistance and we will tell you about this policy and how to apply.

We also contact customers in writing where we see that an account has more than two consecutive overdue bills, three overdue bills in the previous six months, or arrears of more than $200.

4. How to apply

You can apply by telephone, email, online, letter or in store. The details, and the help available if you have special needs, are set out under How to apply above. There is no charge to apply. We will give you a reference number when we receive your application so you can track its progress.

5. What happens after you apply

If it becomes clear that we cannot provide assistance because you do not meet the eligibility criteria, we will tell you immediately.

6. Who is eligible

You are eligible for financial hardship assistance if your situation meets the definition of financial hardship in section 2, and you want to access the options for assistance we offer.

7. Information we may ask for

We will not ask you for information or documents to prove financial hardship if you are applying for short term assistance, or if it appears you may be a victim survivor of domestic or family violence.

We may ask for information only where the arrangement will need to be long term and either the amount to be repaid is more than $1,000, you have been a customer for less than two months, or we reasonably believe there is a possibility of fraud.

If we do ask, we will only ask for what is strictly necessary. We will give you a named contact to discuss the request, tell you how the information will be used and kept, give you several ways to provide it including by email, online, and in store, and give you enough time to find it. We will not ask for anything irrelevant to your application or unreasonably onerous.

8. Options for assistance

We offer the following options. We will tailor what we offer to your individual circumstances and your capacity to pay.

This list is not exhaustive. If something else would help, tell us and we will consider it.

If you are a victim survivor of domestic or family violence, we will consider options appropriate to the ongoing management of your payments and will handle your situation in accordance with our Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Policy.

9. While an arrangement is in place

• We will not restrict, suspend or disconnect your service while you are discussing options with us, while your application is being assessed, or while an arrangement is in place.
• Tell us within 14 days if your situation changes. We will review your arrangement within 5 business days of you telling us.
• If we think you have not kept to the arrangement, we will contact you to discuss it and offer to review it before taking any action.

Before we take any credit management action we will take all reasonable steps to determine whether you are in financial hardship, and if you are, we will offer assistance and take all reasonable steps to keep you connected. If we do need to contact you about proposed action, we will make at least three attempts on separate business days over no more than ten days, using at least two methods, one of which will be in writing.

10. If you are not happy with our decision

You can ask us to review a decision about your application, or make a complaint, using any of the contact methods in section 4 or under our Complaints Handling Policy.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you have a right to take it to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which is a free and independent service.

Making a complaint to us or to the Ombudsman does not stop you agreeing to an arrangement for financial hardship assistance with us.

11. Support services

Free and independent help is available.

12. Our records and your privacy

We keep records of applications, assessments, arrangements and communications in accordance with the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024. Your information is handled under our Privacy Policy and Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. Where we ask for information to support an application, we keep it only for the period required to complete the assessment.

13. Our people

Connect Tel personnel who deal directly with customers receive financial hardship training before they start dealing with customers and annually after that. The training covers this policy, our internal processes and the requirements of the Standard, and includes an assessment. We monitor how our people interact with customers in financial hardship and review the training annually.

14. Reviewing this policy

We review this policy at least once every 12 months to make sure it remains fit for purpose, and whenever our contact details, options or processes change.

15. Related documents

• Payment Assistance Policy Summary (on this page)
• Complaints Handling Policy and Complaints Handling Process Summary
• Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Policy
• Privacy Policy

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