{"id":21124,"date":"2024-03-13T10:46:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T23:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/?page_id=21124"},"modified":"2026-09-02T16:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T06:39:42","slug":"payment-assistance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Payment Assistance | MATE"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p style=\"font-size: 17px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a3d; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0 0 26px;\">MATE&#8217;s Payment Assistance Policy supports our customers facing financial hardship, ensuring they understand their rights and available assistance. You have the right to apply for both short-term and long-term assistance, free of charge.<\/p>\n<details style=\"border: 1px solid #e6f4ec; border-left: 4px solid #00b26b; border-radius: 10px; background: #fff; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 12px;\">\n<summary style=\"cursor: pointer; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a3d; font-size: 17px; padding: 18px 22px; background: #f2fbf6;\">What classifies as financial hardship?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"padding: 16px 22px 20px; font-size: 15.5px; color: #333; line-height: 1.6;\">\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 12px;\">If you&#8217;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:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin: 0; padding-left: 22px;\">\n<li>you are ill, or you have been ill (recently)<\/li>\n<li>someone in your household is ill or has been ill<\/li>\n<li>you are unemployed or have been unemployed<\/li>\n<li>your income is low<\/li>\n<li>you don&#8217;t have enough income<\/li>\n<li>your access to income has reduced<\/li>\n<li>you suffer, or have suffered, domestic violence<\/li>\n<li>you suffer, or have suffered, family violence<\/li>\n<li>there has been a death in your family<\/li>\n<li>there has been a change in your personal circumstances<\/li>\n<li>there has been a change in your family circumstances<\/li>\n<li>there is, or has been, a natural disaster<\/li>\n<li>an unexpected event or unforeseen change has reduced your income<\/li>\n<li>an unexpected event or unforeseen change has increased your expenditure<\/li>\n<li>there is some other reasonable cause<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details style=\"border: 1px solid #e6f4ec; border-left: 4px solid #00b26b; border-radius: 10px; background: #fff; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 12px;\">\n<summary style=\"cursor: pointer; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a3d; font-size: 17px; padding: 18px 22px; background: #f2fbf6;\">What assistance options are available?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"padding: 16px 22px 20px; font-size: 15.5px; color: #333; line-height: 1.6;\">\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 12px;\">The assistance options could include:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin: 0; padding-left: 22px;\">\n<li>to allow you more time to pay a bill<\/li>\n<li>to accept a payment plan tailored to your ability to pay<\/li>\n<li>to put controls on you incurring charges e.g. spend controls<\/li>\n<li>to put restrictions on your service<\/li>\n<li>to remove non-essential service features, without any cost penalty to you<\/li>\n<li>to transfer you to a different product that better suits your circumstances<\/li>\n<li>to adjust internal threshold limits so that you are not disconnected<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details style=\"border: 1px solid #e6f4ec; border-left: 4px solid #00b26b; border-radius: 10px; background: #fff; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 12px;\">\n<summary style=\"cursor: pointer; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a3d; font-size: 17px; padding: 18px 22px; background: #f2fbf6;\">What if I need a financial counsellor?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"padding: 16px 22px 20px; font-size: 15.5px; color: #333; line-height: 1.6;\">\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">If you&#8217;re struggling to make payments, we recommend contacting a financial counsellor. To find and contact a financial counselling service that&#8217;s available and suitable for you, visit the Australian Government information page at <a style=\"color: #00b26b; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/moneysmart.gov.au\/managing-debt\/financial-counselling\">moneysmart.gov.au\/managing-debt\/financial-counselling<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details style=\"border: 1px solid #e6f4ec; border-left: 4px solid #00b26b; border-radius: 10px; background: #fff; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 12px;\">\n<summary style=\"cursor: pointer; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a3d; font-size: 17px; padding: 18px 22px; background: #f2fbf6;\">How can I make a complaint?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"padding: 16px 22px 20px; font-size: 15.5px; color: #333; line-height: 1.6;\">\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 12px;\">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:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin: 0 0 12px; padding-left: 22px;\">\n<li>Phoning <span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">13 14 13 <\/span>8:30am &#8211; 7:00pm on Mon-Fri (8:30am &#8211; 5:00pm on Sat-Sun) and stating that you wish to make a complaint;<\/li>\n<li>Emailing <span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">support@letsbemates.com.au<\/span> and stating that you wish to make a complaint;<\/li>\n<li>Post to <span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">340 Victoria St, Wetherill Park NSW 2164<\/span> and stating that you wish to make a complaint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">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 <a style=\"color: #00b26b; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/tio.com.au\/making-a-complaint\">tio.com.au\/making-a-complaint<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<h3 style=\"color: #00b26b; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; margin: 34px 0 4px;\">Important links<\/h3>\n<div style=\"background: #f3f0fa; border-left: 5px solid #6f42c1; border-radius: 10px; padding: 8px 20px; margin-top: 12px;\">\n<div style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #6f42c1; padding: 12px 0 6px; font-size: 15px;\">\ud83d\udcc4 Important documents<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 14px; padding: 13px 0; border-top: 1px solid #e9e3f5;\"><span style=\"flex: none; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: .5px; color: #fff; background: #e2574c; padding: 6px 7px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 1;\">PDF<\/span><br \/>\n<a style=\"color: #6f42c1; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: 600; font-size: 15.5px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/includes\/uploads\/Important%20Stuff\/mate_payment_assistance_policy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MATE Payment Assistance Policy<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 14px; padding: 13px 0; border-top: 1px solid #e9e3f5;\"><span style=\"flex: none; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: .5px; color: #fff; background: #00b26b; padding: 6px 7px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 1;\">WEB<\/span><br \/>\n<a style=\"color: #6f42c1; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: 600; font-size: 15.5px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/financial-hardship-assistance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MATE Financial Hardship Assistance \u2013 Application Form (Online version)<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 14px; padding: 13px 0; border-top: 1px solid #e9e3f5;\"><span style=\"flex: none; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: .5px; color: #fff; background: #e2574c; padding: 6px 7px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 1;\">PDF<\/span><br \/>\n<a style=\"color: #6f42c1; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: 600; font-size: 15.5px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/includes\/uploads\/Important%20Stuff\/mate_financial_hardship_assistance_application.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MATE Financial Hardship Assistance \u2013 Application Form (PDF version)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MATE&#8217;s Payment Assistance Policy supports our customers facing financial hardship, ensuring they understand their rights and available assistance. You have the right to apply for both short-term and long-term assistance, free of charge. What classifies as financial hardship? If you&#8217;re experiencing issues paying your bill due to financial hardship, as defined below (or similar reasons),&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18398,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"acf":{"mate_custom_head_html_content":"","wp_breadcrumbs":"payment assistance","has_parent":false,"enable_dfv":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Payment Assistance | MATE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you need help with making payments? MATE&#039;s Payment Assistance Policy supports those facing financial hardship. Learn your options and get assistance today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Payment Assistance | MATE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you need help with making payments? MATE&#039;s Payment Assistance Policy supports those facing financial hardship. Learn your options and get assistance today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"mate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/matecommunicate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-02T06:39:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MATE-v8-Car.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@matecommunicate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/\",\"name\":\"Payment Assistance | MATE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-12T23:46:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-02T06:39:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you need help with making payments? MATE's Payment Assistance Policy supports those facing financial hardship. Learn your options and get assistance today.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Payment Assistance | MATE\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/\",\"name\":\"mate\",\"description\":\"Mate Site\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mate Communicate\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo.png\",\"width\":115,\"height\":31,\"caption\":\"Mate Communicate\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/matecommunicate\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/matecommunicate\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Payment Assistance | MATE","description":"Do you need help with making payments? MATE's Payment Assistance Policy supports those facing financial hardship. Learn your options and get assistance today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Payment Assistance | MATE","og_description":"Do you need help with making payments? MATE's Payment Assistance Policy supports those facing financial hardship. Learn your options and get assistance today.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/","og_site_name":"mate","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/matecommunicate","article_modified_time":"2026-09-02T06:39:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":950,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MATE-v8-Car.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@matecommunicate","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/","name":"Payment Assistance | MATE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-03-12T23:46:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-02T06:39:42+00:00","description":"Do you need help with making payments? MATE's Payment Assistance Policy supports those facing financial hardship. Learn your options and get assistance today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/payment-assistance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Payment Assistance | MATE"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/","name":"mate","description":"Mate Site","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#organization","name":"Mate Communicate","url":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo.png","width":115,"height":31,"caption":"Mate Communicate"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/matecommunicate","https:\/\/twitter.com\/matecommunicate"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21124"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30792,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21124\/revisions\/30792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsbemates.com.au\/mate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}