Financial Hardship Policy

Effective 26 August 2026

If you're having trouble paying your bill, talk to us. We'd much rather work out a way for you to keep your service than have you go without it. Asking for help costs nothing, doesn't change the service you get, and we won't disconnect you while we're sorting it out.

This policy applies to residential and small business customers of Mertel Pty Ltd (ABN 88 644 567 019), trading as Better Broadband, and sets out how we meet our obligations under the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.

1. How to ask for help

• Call 1300 100 103 or (02) 9533 3300 and say you'd like to talk about financial hardship.
• Come into the store at Riverwood Plaza, 257 Belmore Rd, Riverwood NSW 2210 and ask for the manager.
• Or use the contact form — write "financial hardship" in the message and we'll call you back.

Someone else can ask on your behalf — a family member, a financial counsellor or an authorised representative — as long as you're happy for them to. If English isn't your first language, or you need help being understood, tell us and we'll arrange it, including a free interpreter.

2. What financial hardship means

You're in financial hardship if you want to pay your bill but genuinely can't right now. It's usually caused by something outside your control — losing work or hours, illness or injury, a death in the family, separation, family violence, a natural disaster, or an unexpected bill that's swallowed the month. It can be short-term or ongoing. You don't have to fit a category to be taken seriously.

3. What happens after you ask

• We'll acknowledge your request when you make it, or by the next business day if you left a message.
• We may ask about your situation, your income and what you can afford. We'll only ask for what we need to make a decision, and we'll tell you why we're asking.
• We'll decide whether you're in financial hardship and tell you the outcome within 5 working days of getting the information we need.
• While we're assessing your request, we won't suspend or disconnect your service, and we won't refer your debt to a collector.
• If we decide you're not in financial hardship, we'll tell you why — in writing if you want it — and explain how to have that decision reviewed, including through the TIO.

4. What we can do

We'll work out an arrangement that fits what you can actually afford, and we'll take your own view of that seriously. Depending on your situation it can include:

• More time to pay — an extension, or a due date moved to line up with your pay or benefit.
• A payment plan — the amount owing split into smaller instalments over an agreed period.
• A cheaper plan — moving you to a lower-priced plan, or dropping add-ons like the Unlimited Call Pack, with no change fee.
• Spend controls — restricting the call types or add-ons that are running the bill up.
• Waiving fees — late fees, and the early termination or hardware charges in our service terms, where they'd only make things worse.
• A temporary hold — pausing charges, or part of them, for an agreed period.
• Waiving the debt — in whole or in part, in exceptional circumstances.

We don't charge a fee for hardship assistance, and we won't ask you to take a more expensive plan as a condition of getting it. If an arrangement stops working — your circumstances change, or the instalments turn out to be too much — tell us and we'll look at it again.

5. What we ask of you

Stick to the arrangement if you can, and tell us as soon as you can't. Keep paying for what you use where you're able to. If your situation changes, for better or worse, let us know so we can adjust the arrangement rather than have it fail quietly.

6. Disconnection

We won't disconnect or restrict your service while a hardship request is being assessed, or while you're keeping to an agreed arrangement. If an arrangement does break down, we'll contact you and give you a chance to fix it before we take any action, and we'll tell you what that action would be.

7. Your privacy

What you tell us about your finances is confidential, and is used only to assess and manage your hardship arrangement. It's handled the same way as everything else we hold about you — see our privacy policy. We keep records of hardship requests and arrangements for at least two years.

8. Free financial counselling

Financial counsellors are free, independent and confidential, and can help you deal with all of your debts, not just this one.

• National Debt Helpline — 1800 007 007, or ndh.org.au
• Mob Strong Debt Help, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — 1800 808 488

9. If you're not happy with our decision

Tell us first — call 1300 100 103 or ask for the manager in store, and we'll look at it again. If you're still not satisfied, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) is a free and independent dispute-resolution service: 1800 062 058 or tio.com.au. The full complaints process is in our complaints policy.

Need this policy in another format — large print, or read to you over the phone? Call 1300 100 103 and we'll sort it out at no charge.