Payment Assistance | MATE

If you’re experiencing issues paying your bill due to financial hardship, as defined below (or similar reasons), you can review our Payment Assistance Policy and submit an application:

• you are ill, or you have been ill (recently)
• someone in your household is ill or has been ill
• you are unemployed or have been unemployed
• your income is low
• you don’t have enough income
• your access to income has reduced
• you suffer, or have suffered, domestic violence
• you suffer, or have suffered, family violence
• there has been a death in your family
• there has been a change in your personal circumstances
• there has been a change in your family circumstances
• there is, or has been, a natural disaster
• an unexpected event or unforeseen change has reduced your income
• an unexpected event or unforeseen change has increased your expenditure
• there is some other reasonable cause

The assistance options could include:

• to allow you more time to pay a bill
• to accept a payment plan tailored to your ability to pay
• to put controls on you incurring charges e.g. spend controls
• to put restrictions on your service
• to remove non-essential service features, without any cost penalty to you
• to transfer you to a different product that better suits your circumstances
• to adjust internal threshold limits so that you are not disconnected

If you’re struggling to make payments, we recommend contacting a financial counsellor. To find and contact a financial counselling service that’s available and suitable for you, visit the Australian Government information page at moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/financial-counselling

If you wish to make a complaint on the outcome of a financial hardship assessment, you can do so via our Complaints Handling Process. You can make a complaint to us by:

• Phoning 13 14 13 8:30am – 7:00pm on Mon-Fri (8:30am – 5:00pm on Sat-Sun) and stating that you wish to make a complaint;
• Emailing [email protected] and stating that you wish to make a complaint;
• Post to 340 Victoria St, Wetherill Park NSW 2164 and stating that you wish to make a complaint.

If you are still not happy with the outcome of your complaint after following our dispute resolution process, you can contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) for independent mediation. The TIO can be contacted by calling 1800 062 058 or visiting the TIO website at tio.com.au/making-a-complaint.