Australian debt guide
Cannot afford a debt? Hardship help in Australia
By DebtReply · Sources checked
ASIC’s Moneysmart recommends contacting your lender’s hardship team when repayments become unmanageable. Assistance depends on your circumstances; a request is not an accepted arrangement. Explain what changed, check your income and major expenses, and ask for terms you can understand. Free financial counselling can help you prepare.
What is a hardship request?
Moneysmart describes assistance that changes repayments or sets up a plan. A request starts a discussion; it does not mean an arrangement has been accepted. DebtReply lets you ask about a pause, reduced payments or more time, then review the wording before sending.
What information should I prepare?
Keep the first explanation brief: what changed, whether you expect it to last and what you want to discuss. Gather figures for income, major expenses and other commitments separately. You do not need to enter detailed medical records into this builder. If more information is requested, verify the recipient and ask why it is needed.
How can I think about payments?
The Moneysmart debt-management guide suggests comparing money coming in with money going out. Our budget worksheet helps organise that arithmetic. Its result is not a recommended offer; missing costs and irregular bills can change the picture.
What can I do next?
- Identify the organisation’s hardship contact.
- Prepare a short explanation of the change.
- Check your income and commitments.
- Use the letter to ask for a discussion and written terms.
- Read the response carefully and seek free help if the proposal is unclear or unmanageable.
Example: explaining reduced income
This is a writing example, not a repayment recommendation. Your working hours have fallen and the old schedule no longer fits your income. A useful first explanation identifies the change and what you want considered, such as a temporary pause or a discussion about smaller payments. If you do not know when your hours will recover, say that rather than giving a date you cannot support.
Prepare your income and expense figures separately. Check whether each figure is weekly, fortnightly or monthly before comparing them. An old payslip may not show the change you are describing, so note which period each record covers. Do not put detailed health or family information into a draft simply to make it sound more persuasive. The Moneysmart hardship guide says the lender typically asks why help is needed, about income and major expenses, and about manageable repayments.
Check a proposed arrangement before replying
Make a short comparison with one column for your request and another for the response. Record the proposed payment, frequency, start date and duration. Add questions about anything not addressed, including interest, fees and what happens at the review point. This is a way to identify missing information, not a test that approves an arrangement.
If the response proposes more than you believe you can manage, take your budget and the response to a financial counsellor. Avoid changing the budget just to make the proposal appear workable. The debt-management guide explains the value of looking at the whole picture, including essential bills and other commitments.
Keep the request and response together
Record when you contacted the organisation and which team handled the request. Save any agreed terms in your own records. If your situation changes again, use those records to explain what has changed. DebtReply does not monitor repayments, follow up with the creditor or keep your hardship history.
Put your next step into words
Use a free starting-point letter, then check that every detail fits your situation.
Write the letterCommon questions
Will my request automatically be accepted?
No. The letter asks the organisation to consider assistance and explain its response.
Can I explain a change without medical details?
The builder allows a brief explanation. Only include information you choose to share.
What if I have nothing left after essentials?
The worksheet is a starting point for a conversation. Contact a free financial counsellor rather than treating a number as a repayment instruction.
Sources you can check
- Financial hardship ASIC Moneysmart · Checked 18 October 2026
- Get debt under control ASIC Moneysmart · Checked 18 October 2026
This guide explains a process. It has not been reviewed as advice for your situation. How we use sources.