Financial Hardship Policy

Our Definition of Financial Hardship

The Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2015 defines Financial Hardship as a situation where a customer is unable to discharge of the financial obligations in relation to our services but where the customer expects to be able to do so over time if payment arrangements are changed.

Customer hardship can arise from a variety of situations. Hardship can be either of limited duration or long term. To illustrate, several of the common causes are listed below.

Hardship can result from a number of factors including:

• Loss of employment by the consumer or family member.
• Family breakdown.
• Being a victim of domestic or family violence
• Illness including physical incapacity, hospitalisation, or mental illness of the consumer or family member.
• A death in the family.
• Use of the service by a third party leaving the customer unable to pay the account.
• Natural Disaster.

Statement of intention:

We are here to help.

We will work with you to help you respond to financial difficulty, whether temporary or long-term. We are committed to helping customers facing financial hardship maintain telecommunications access and working with you to find a sustainable solution. Any help we can give will depend on your individual circumstances, and we provide help on a case-by-case basis.

Identifying a Customer Experiencing Financial Hardship

We consider financial hardship a state that involves an ongoing real inability of the customer to pay bills, rather than an unwillingness to do so.

In order for us to apply this policy you must satisfy Us that you are experiencing financial hardship in the meaning of the above definition. The decision of whether you are experiencing financial hardship for the purpose of this policy will be made by Us, in Our sole discretion.

We encourage you to provide us with third party evidence, such as a report from a financial counsellor, or a bank, or Centrelink, to confirm the details of your financial hardship.

If you are experiencing financial hardship, there are a number of organisations which provide free counselling and assistance. To find a financial counsellor in your area visit www.fcan.com.au.

You may ask us to deal with a Financial Counsellor on Your behalf. In order for Us to speak to a Financial Counsellor, the customer must be present, or we must have received prior authority from the customer to speak with the Counsellor on their behalf. Please contact us for further information.

Customers who have chosen to transfer all of their services to another provider but still have an outstanding balance with Us are ineligible for participation in Our Financial Hardship Program.

Reaching a Financial Arrangement

Once we agree You are experiencing Financial Hardship, We may at our discretion agree to a temporary financial arrangement which is different to the terms which ordinarily apply to You.

The basic principle of any agreed financial arrangement for Financial Hardship is that the repayment made by You should be sufficient to cover expected future use of the service (as adjusted to ensure the customer's financial position does not worsen over a reasonable period of time) as well as providing continued reduction of debt at a reasonable level (i.e. the customer should not be going into further debt under the arrangement).

The process:

When assessing your eligibility for Financial Hardship, we may ask you to provide certain documents such as

• A statutory declaration or official written communication from a person or support group that is familiar with your circumstances,
• Evidence that you consulted a recognised financial counsellor,
• A statement of your financial position.

We may not be able to make an assessment of your circumstances if you do not provide us with the requested information. We may use the information you provide as well as other information available to us. Once we received all required information, we will let you know within 7 working days whether you are eligible for assistance under our Financial Hardship Policy.

If you are eligible, we will work with you to come to an arrangement that allows you to pay your outstanding charges in a way that does not worsen your financial position. Where appropriate we will discuss means with you how to limit your spend (this may include barring some service features) during the time of our arrangement and thereafter.

Once we come to an agreement we will put this in writing via letter or email to you. You must inform us if your circumstances change (for better or for worse) during our arrangement.

We will not charge you for assessing your Financial Hardship circumstances or for administering the matter.

Your options:

If you are experiencing Financial Hardship, there are a few options that may be available to you depending on your circumstances.

If you wish to stay connected with us, some options include:

• Restriction of service, in respect of overall or specific services;
• Transfer to a Pre-Paid Service;
• Low cost interim options until you can continue with original payments.

Some other options for suitable financial arrangements include:

• Temporarily postponing or deferring payments;
• Alternative arrangement plan;
• Waiving late payment fees;

Contact us:

We encourage you to contact us if you experience any difficulties paying our services. Please contact us by calling 1300 411 869 if you would like to discuss any Financial Hardship matters with us. You can do so from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.

Finding a financial counsellor:

You can talk to a phone financial counsellor from anywhere in Australia by ringing 1800 007 007 (minimum opening hours are 9.30 am – 4.30 pm Monday to Friday). This number will automatically switch through to the service in the State or Territory closest to you.

VICTORIA

Consumer Action Law Centre: 03 9629 6300
Legal advice for the public: 03 9629 6300 / 1800 466 477
Legal advice for consumer caseworkers: 03 9602 3326
consumeraction.org.au

MoneyHelp: 1800 007 007
Not-for-profit Victorian Government service providing free, confidential financial counselling for Victorians experiencing job loss or reduced working hours.
moneyhelp.org.au

NEW SOUTH WALES

Financial Rights Legal Centre Credit and Debt Hotline: 1800 007 007
financialrights.org.au

Financial Counsellors' Association of New South Wales: 1300 914 408
fcan.com.au

ACT

Care Financial Counselling Service: 02 6257 1788
carefcs.org

Salvation Army Financial Counselling: 02 6247 3635
salvationarmy.org.au

Lifeline gambling and financial counselling: 02 6247 0655
lifeline.org.au

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Uniting Country SA 1300 067 777
ucsa.org.au

South Australian Community Legal Centres: 08 8281 6911
clcsa.org.au

South Australian Financial Counsellors Association
safca.org.au

Relationships Australia (SA)
rasa.org.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Financial Counselling Hotline: 1800 007 007
financialcounsellors.org

Consumer Credit Legal Service: 08 9221 7066
cclswa.org.au

Financial Counsellors Association of Western Australia: 08 9325 1617
financialcounsellors.org

TASMANIA

Anglicare Financial Counselling Service: 1800 243 232
anglicare-tas.org.au

Hobart Community Legal Service: 03 6223 2500
hobartlegal.org.au

Relationships Australia Tasmania: 1300 364 277
tas.relationships.org.au

QUEENSLAND

Financial Counsellors Association of Queensland: 1800 007 007
fcaq.com.au

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Financial Counselling Hotline: 1800 007 007
safca.org.au

Somerville Community Services
Darwin 08 8920 4100
Katherine 08 8972 5100
Palmerston Financial Counselling Centre 08 89316200
somerville.org.au

Anglicare NT Financial Counselling
Ludmilla Head Office: 08 8985 0000
Katherine Financial Counselling Service: 08 8963 6100
Nhulunbuy Financial Counselling Service: 08 8939 3400
Alice Springs Financial Counselling Service: 08 8951 8000
anglicare-nt.org.au

Tangentyere Council Financial Counselling Service
Telephone 08 8951 4257
tangentyere.org.au

Alternatively, you can find the financial counselling service nearest to you by visiting Financial Counselling Australia.

Information on the Complaints Handling Process:

You may wish to make a complaint and request a review if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your Financial Hardship application. Pursuant to the Australian Communications Media Authority (‘ACMA’) Complaints Standard, a complaint does not include an initial call to request information or support or to report a fault or service difficulty unless you advise us that you want that call treated as a complaint and does not include an issue that is the subject of legal action. You can also make a complaint in writing by email or post.

We are required to acknowledge all complaints within two working days, use our best efforts to resolve the complaint on first contact and otherwise resolve the complaint within 15 working days. As an additional safeguard to ensure that your complaint is properly handled, any complaints data that we receive will be provided to the ACMA to allow it to monitor our complaints-handling process in line with the ACMA Record-keeping Rules.