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Don't face financial challenges on your own
If you're struggling financially right now, for any reason, be reassured that you can get support. Many organisations across Greater Sydney and beyond offer financial assistance and counselling. Plus, all major banks have dedicated teams to support clients facing financial hardship.
Banks – financial hardship teams
| Bank | Phone number | Website |
|---|---|---|
| AMP | 1300 130 191 | Experiencing financial hardship? |
| ANZ | 1800 252 845 | Customer Connect |
| BOQ | 1800 079 866 | Financial hardship assistance |
| BankSA | 1800 679 461 | BankSA Assist |
| Bankwest | 1300 769 173 | Financial hardship |
| Bendigo and Adelaide Bank | 1300 652 146 | Financial difficulty assistance |
| Citibank | 1800 722 879 | Hardship assistance |
| Commonwealth Bank | 1300 720 814 | Emergency assistance |
| HSBC | 1300 555 988 | Financial difficulty |
| IMB | 133 462 | Hardship assistance |
| ING | 1300 349 166 | Financial hardship |
| Macquarie Bank | 1300 363 330 | Financial hardship |
| ME Bank | 1300 500 520 | ME Bank financial hardship |
| NAB | 1800 701 599 | Financial hardship |
| Rabobank | 1800 025 484 | Financial hardship |
| Rural Bank | 1300 660 115 | Financial hardship |
| St.George Bank | 1800 629 795 | St.George Assist |
| Suncorp Bank | 1800 225 223 | Suncorp Customer Assist |
| Westpac | 1800 067 497 | Westpac Assist |
Financial assistance services
| Service | Contact | How they help |
|---|---|---|
| Anglicare | 1300 111 278 | Provides emergency relief, counselling and other support services. |
| AGL – Staying Connected Hardship Program | 1300 659 925 | Helps residential customers in financial hardship who are struggling to pay electricity/gas bills. |
| Christians Against Poverty | 1300 227 000 | Provides free debt management in Australia through a network of outreach centres in partnership with local churches. |
| Emergency relief agencies | Find your local agency details in the DSS Grants Directory | Provide immediate financial and material support to people in financial crisis. Community agencies deliver emergency relief services and help people address immediate basic needs in times of financial crisis. |
| Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) scheme | 13 77 88 | Provides information about the EAPA scheme and how it works, and a list of providers for more information. |
| EnergyAssist Program (Energy Australia) | 13 34 66 | Provides information and advice for customers having difficulty paying electricity bills. |
| Financial Counsellors Association of NSW | 1300 914 408 | Peak membership organisation for financial counsellors in NSW. |
| Financial Rights Legal Centre | 1800 007 007 | Provides financial counselling information, advice and referral services on credit, debt and banking issues to NSW residents. |
| ING Hardship Relief Guide | 1300 349 166 | Provides written information to ING customers about how to apply for financial hardship relief. |
| Mortgage Hardship Service | 1300 888 529 | Provides written advice about the scheme – short-term help for people experiencing temporary difficulties with their home loan repayments because of an unavoidable change in circumstances. |
| No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS) | 13 64 57 | Provides no-interest loans to low income earners for household items or services. |
| Optus Hardship Program | 1300 308 839 | Link to Optus's Financial Hardship Assistance & Policy page. |
| Origin Hardship Charter – Power On | 13 24 61 | Helps residential customers who are experiencing hardship manage their energy usage and bills. |
| Telstra | 13 22 00 | Offers flexible payment terms and options for customers experiencing genuine difficulties. |
| Vodafone | 1300 650 405 | Helps customers facing financial hardship with their bill. |
Counselling and support services
| Service | Contact | How they help |
|---|---|---|
| My Aged Care | 1800 200 422 | Provides accommodation and care services to over 700,000 older people, people with a disability and their carers. |
| Alcoholics Anonymous Australia | 1300 222 222 | Provides support and advice to people affected by alcohol addiction. |
| Beyond Blue | 1300 224 636 | Improves mental health across various stages of life and areas of the community. |
| Cancer Council | 13 11 20 | Provides news, information and support for people living with cancer and their families. |
| Carers NSW | 1800 242 636 | Provides carer information, support and counselling. |
| Creating Links | 1300 254 657 | Provides a range of services for Bankstown LGA residents, including Family Services, Community Services, Children Services, Fostering, Disability Services and Financial Wellbeing Services, NDIS provider. |
| Crohn’s and Colitis Australia | 1800 138 029 | Provides support services, funds research and creates public awareness for Australians with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. |
| Domestic Violence Line (Communities & Justice) | 1800 656 463 | Provides support and advice to victims of domestic and family violence, including emotional, psychological, financial, sexual or other types of abuse. |
| Drug Arm Australasia | 1800 656 800 | Offers drug awareness resources and programs. Fact sheets, drug information list, resource lending library, and organisation details. |
| Family Connect & Support | Check website for local contact numbers | Offers a free, voluntary and integrated service to meet the needs of vulnerable children, young people and families by bringing together families, relevant services and community resources in the local area. |
| Family Relationship Advice Line | 1800 050 321 | National telephone service established to help families affected by relationship or separation issues. |
| Fight Dementia | 1800 100 500 | Provide support services to sufferers of dementia, including 24-hour phone support, early intervention programs for people with dementia, education, therapy and carer support groups. |
| GambleAware NSW | 1800 858 858 | Free gambling counselling services for people affected by gambling, family members and friends. |
| HSRU | 1300 345 852 | Provides direction for service providers and community members to respond to situations of squalor and hoarding. |
| Lifeline | 13 11 14 | Providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. |
| Meals on Wheels NSW | 02 8219 4200 | Provides nutritionally balanced meals and support to frail, aged people, people with disability and their carers. |
| Mensline Australia | 1300 789 978 | Provides national telephone and online support, and information and referral services for men with family and relationship concerns. |
| Muru Mittigar | 02 4730 0400 | Provides financial services such as NILS (No Interest Loan Scheme), EAPA (Energy Accounts Payment Assistance) and Financial Counselling. |
| Narcotics Anonymous Australia | 1300 652 820 | Provides support and advice to people affected by narcotic addiction. |
| Parents Beyond Breakup | 1300 853 437 | Provides advice and support for separated mothers and fathers. |
| Parentline NSW | 1300 130 052 | Provides free professional help for parents and carers of children 0–18 years in NSW. |
| Parkinsons Australia | 1800 644 189 | Provides advice and support for people with Parkinsons and their carers. |
| Redkite | 1800 733 548 | Supporting children diagnosed with cancer aged 0–18 and their families. |
| Relationships Australia | 1300 364 277 | Provides counselling and mediation services for couples and families. |
| Salvation Army | 13 72 58 | Provides free nationwide professional telephone and online counselling. |
| Sane Australia | 1800 187 263 | Provides free nationwide professional telephone and online counselling. |
| Service NSW | 13 77 88 | Access NSW Government rebates and savings. |
| Suicide Call Back Service | 1300 659 467 | Provides free nationwide professional telephone and online counselling for anyone affected by suicide. |
| Telecross | 1300 885 698 | Red Cross can provide you with a daily telephone call to check on your wellbeing through a service known as Telecross. |
| Tenants NSW | www.tenants.org.au | Provides advice and support for tenants of private rental housing, social housing tenants, boarders, lodgers and residential park residents. |
Accredited community agencies
If you'd prefer to speak to someone in your local area, there's a range of accredited community agencies you can call to find out about payment assistance options.