Payment assistance policy

Having trouble paying your bill? Talk to us. We will work with you to keep you connected.

Our full policy

1. Our commitment to you

Our goal is to keep customers who are experiencing financial hardship connected. We will only disconnect a service as a last resort. You have the right to apply for financial hardship assistance, and it is free to use this policy.

2. Who this policy is for

This policy is for our residential customers, small businesses and not-for-profit organisations (a business or not-for-profit that spends no more than $40,000 a year with us and could not negotiate its contract). It also covers former customers who still owe us money.

3. How to apply

You can apply in any of the ways you usually contact us:

How	Details	When
Phone	(02) 4883 6781 — you will speak with someone who can help with payment assistance	Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
Email	info@thetechery.au	Any time
Online	thetechery.au/contact-us	Any time
In person	The Mill, Shop 5, 210-224 Bong Bong St, Bowral NSW 2576	Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
By letter	The Techery, The Mill, Shop 5, 210-224 Bong Bong St, Bowral NSW 2576	Any time

There is no application form. Tell us you need help and we will take you through it. You can ask us how your application is going at any time, in any of these ways.

Someone you trust, such as a family member or a financial counsellor, can apply for you if you tell us they may act for you.

If you need help to apply, we will help you. If you need an interpreter, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask them to call us. If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service (see "Contact us" below). We can give you this policy in another format if you need it.

4. How we decide

You are eligible for help if you are in financial hardship (as described in the summary above) and you would like one of the options we offer.

When we won't ask for evidence. We won't ask you for documents if you are applying for short-term help, or if you may be affected by family or domestic violence.

When we may ask for information. For long-term help, we may ask for information about your situation, but only if it is strictly necessary, and only if you owe us more than $1,000, have been our customer for less than 2 months, or we have a real concern about fraud. We may ask for something like a letter from a financial counsellor, a Centrelink statement, a medical certificate or a letter from your employer. If we ask:

• we will tell you, in writing or another way that suits you, the name, email and phone number of the person to talk to about it;
• you can give it to us by email, through our website, or in person at our shop, where you can show it to us instead of giving us a copy;
• we will tell you how we will use and keep it, and what else we may use to decide;
• we will only keep it until we have finished our assessment;
• we will give you enough time to find it. If we don't receive what we need, we may not be able to finish the assessment. Giving us false or misleading information may mean we stop the assessment.

5. How long it takes

• We will tell you how long we expect the assessment to take.
• We will finish it as soon as we can, and within 5 business days of having everything we need.
• We will tell you the outcome within 2 business days of finishing.
• If it becomes clear that we can't help under this policy, we will tell you straight away.

6. Ways we can help

We will tailor the help to your situation and what you can afford to pay. We will always consider:

• postponing, extending or deferring the time to pay a bill;
• a payment plan tailored to what you can afford.

We can also offer, where it suits you:

• a discount on a bill charge;
• a credit to your account;
• waiving some or all of a debt;
• matching the payments you make with a credit;
• moving you to a different plan that better suits your circumstances;
• removing features you don't need, at no cost;
• adjusting our internal limits so that you are not disconnected;
• a free way to pay that isn't automatic, such as bank transfer.

We also help all customers manage their bills: for example by explaining a bill, setting up a payment method that suits you, or helping you choose a plan that fits your budget.

7. When we agree on an arrangement

Your arrangement starts as soon as you agree to it. Within 2 business days we will send you, in writing, the details of the arrangement, your rights and responsibilities under it, how long it lasts, when we might restrict, suspend or disconnect a service, and that you can ask us to review it. Please tell us within 14 days if your situation changes during the arrangement.

8. If things change

If your situation changes, tell us and we will review your arrangement within 5 business days. If a payment under your arrangement is missed, we will contact you to talk about it and offer to review the arrangement.

9. Before we restrict, suspend or disconnect a service

• Before we take any of these steps, we will check whether you might be in financial hardship.
• We won't restrict, suspend or disconnect your service while you are talking to us about options, while you have applied for help, or while you have an arrangement with us.
• The only exception is when you haven't kept to your arrangement, we have reviewed it, and then one of these is true: we have talked with you about paying; we tried to reach you at least 3 times, on separate business days within 10 days, in at least 2 different ways (one of them in writing) and couldn't; you agree the arrangement can't be completed; or we have a genuine reason to believe you can't or won't pay and the debt would keep growing. Our written message will say that we are planning to restrict, suspend or disconnect a service.
• If you are a financial hardship customer, we will only suspend or disconnect a service as a last resort, and we will give you at least 10 business days' written notice. The notice will say what we plan to do and when, why, any charges that may apply, how it affects your other services with us, and how to contact the TIO and free financial counselling.
• We won't sell a debt while you are applying for help, while you have an arrangement, or while we are reviewing it.

10. Family and domestic violence

If you are affected by family or domestic violence, please tell us. You won't need to give us any evidence to get help, we will take your safety into account when we tailor the help, and we will contact you only in the way you choose.

11. Complaints and reviews

If you disagree with our decision about your application, you can ask us to review it, or make a complaint to us (see our complaints page at thetechery.au/complaints). If you are still not satisfied, you can take your complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman: 1800 062 058, www.tio.com.au. Making a complaint does not stop you from agreeing to a payment arrangement with us.

12. No fees

We don't charge you to apply, to be assessed, to have an arrangement, or for managing it.

13. Your information

We keep records of your arrangement for at least 2 years after it ends. Any documents you give us to show your circumstances are destroyed once we have finished assessing your application. We handle your information under our privacy policy.

Contact us

Phone (02) 4883 6781, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm · Email info@thetechery.au · Online thetechery.au/contact-us · Shop: The Mill, Shop 5, 210-224 Bong Bong St, Bowral NSW 2576, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

National Relay Service: if you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, choose your call channel at www.accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs (TTY 133 677, Speak and Listen 1300 555 727, SMS relay 0423 677 767) and ask for (02) 4883 6781.

This policy is approved by our director and reviewed at least once a year. Last reviewed: November 2026.