Bills and payments
If you are experiencing financial difficulties such as trouble paying bills or managing your finances, options may be available to support you.
» Are you having trouble paying bills or buying essentials?
» What assistance is there to help with my energy bills?
» Do you need advice about managing your finances, your mortgage or debts?
» Do you need legal advice?
Are you having trouble paying bills or buying essentials?
Water and energy bills
If you're having difficulty paying your water bill, Sydney Water [2] and Hunter Water [3] offer a range of options to their customers. These include flexible payment schemes and payment assistance. Government owned energy providers also offer support for customers struggling to pay their gas and power bills.
For more information go to:
- Sydney Water [2] or call 13 20 92
- Hunter Water [4]or call 1300 657 657
- Energy Australia [5] or call 1300 723 492
- Integral Energy [6] or call 131 002
- Country Energy [7] or call 13 23 56
If you are a customer of other water and energy companies you should contact your provider about what options are available to you, or shop around to get the best deal on your energy bill at My Energy Offers [8].
If you are having financial difficulty paying your energy bill financial assistance may be available through Industry and Investment NSW. Eligibility criteria apply.
More information about electricty rebates [9] and EAPA Assistance [10] is available from your electricity supplier or from the Energy Information Line on 1300 136 888.
Financial assistance
If you are on a low income you may be eligible to receive a loan of up to $1200 to purchase essential household goods and medical goods and services.
Visit the No Interest Loan Scheme [11] website to find providers in your area or call NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20
Mortgage and rent assistance
If you are suffering temporary difficulties with your home loan repayments because of an unavoidable change in circumstances, such as unemployment, short term financial assistance through the Mortgage Assistance Scheme [12] may be available. This is a loan to be repaid in the future and eligibility criteria apply. For more information call 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746).
If you are having trouble making repayments on your loan, credit card or mortgage because of illness, unemployment and other reasonable causes, you should seek assistance from NSW Fair Trading [13] who may be able to help negotiate a variation on your contract. For more information call 13 32 20.
A range of housing assistance options are available to people with housing needs, including private rent assistance and rent subsidies as well as temporary, emergency supported and crisis accommodation. For more information on Housing Pathways [14] call 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746).
RTA concessions and rebates
If you are a first or second year apprentice you are eligible for a $100 rebate [15] on your vehicle registration.
If you are a pensioner you may be eligible for a number of concessions from the RTA including concessions for vehicle registration and licenses.
For further information on RTA concessions [16] and rebates call 13 22 13.
Travel concessions
A variety of travel concessions are available including concessions for pensioners and seniors, students, apprentices and trainees, jobseekers and people with disabilities.
For more information on travel concessions [17] please call the Transport Infoline on 131 500.
Tax assistance
If you are experiencing difficulty meeting your tax obligations there may be options to pay your tax over time. Eligibility criteria apply. For more information call 1300 368 710.
Centrelink [18] provides a wide range of assistance to help you pay and manage your bills and rent.
What assistance is there to help with my energy bills?
The NSW Government has a range of programs to help eligible customers stay connected to these essential services. These include the:
NSW Energy Rebate [9] ($145)
Medical Energy Rebate [19] ($145)
Life Support Rebate [20] (rates vary depending on the type of machine)
Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) [10] vouchers
Home Power Savings Program [21] (savings of up to $95 a year)
Retailer Hardship Policies and Payment Plans
Save Power website [22] (for useful energy saving tips and information on rebates to assist households purchase energy savings appliances)
Centrepay [23] (to prevent large energy bills by making regular instalments)
More information about electricty rebates [9] and EAPA Assistance [10] is available from your electricity supplier or from the Energy Information Line on 1300 136 888.
For more information on rebates, hardship programs and payment plans contact your electricity supplier who can assist and, if you are eligible, set you up with rebates or programs.
Do you need advice about managing your finances, your mortgage or debts?
Financial advice
If you need financial advice and counselling about managing debts and payments free accredited services are available through the Financial Counselling Services Program [24]. Centrelink also offers advice on managing your finances.
Centrelink [25] offers advice on managing your finances.
Do you need legal advice?
If you need financial advice the Consumer Credit Legal Centre [26] gives free financial counselling, information, referrals and legal advice to individual consumers in NSW on credit, debt and banking issues. Advice is not available to businesses.
For more inforamation please call 1800 808 488 for advice on credit and debt issues, and 1300 663 464 for advice on insurance issues.
If you need legal advice phone LawAccess NSW [27] on 1300 888 529 for free legal information, referrals and, in some cases, legal advice.