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All guides · Council rates

Paying council rates by instalment

Each council sets its own ways to pay rates, and the two councils below both offer a choice between paying the year in one go and paying in four instalments. The dates, interest and hardship rules vary by council: your rates notice and your council’s own website are where the real dates live.

General information only, not financial or legal advice. The official place to check is your own council’s rates page; the two used here are Northern Beaches Council (NSW) and the City of Melbourne (Victoria).

Two councils, one rating year

These two are examples, chosen because their pages set the rules out plainly. They are not a rule for your council, and other councils will differ.

Northern Beaches Council, NSW

  1. Jul
  2. Aug
  3. Sep
  4. Oct
  5. Nov
  6. Dec
  7. Jan
  8. Feb
  9. Mar
  10. Apr
  11. May
  12. Jun

City of Melbourne, Victoria, four-instalment option, 2026–27

  1. Jul
  2. Aug
  3. Sep
  4. Oct
  5. Nov
  6. Dec
  7. Jan
  8. Feb
  9. Mar
  10. Apr
  11. May
  12. Jun
From each council’s own rates pages, as at October 2026.
 Northern Beaches (NSW)City of Melbourne (Vic)
Rating year1 July to 30 June. 2026–27 notices sent in August 2026.
Instalment dates31 August, 30 November, 28 February and 31 May. 30 September 2026, 30 November 2026, 28 February 2027 and 31 May 2027.
Paying in one goPay the year by the first due date, 31 August, and no further instalment notices are sent. One lump sum on or before 15 February 2027.
Other optionsThe council says it may agree to alternative payment plans for ratepayers in hardship. Ten monthly payments by direct debit only, September to June.
Late paymentNot set out on the page used here; check the council’s rates notice.Interest at the penalty interest rate, 10 per cent a year as at October 2026, under the Local Government Act 1989 (Vic).

How interest is counted at the City of Melbourne

The City of Melbourne’s page has one detail that is easy to miss. Interest on arrears is calculated from the date each quarterly instalment was due, whether or not the ratepayer chose the instalment option or the lump sum.

The council also says that if a direct debit can’t be taken because of insufficient funds, it issues an updated statement with 10 per cent interest added and tries the debit again. A direct debit form has to reach it at least five business days before the due date, and direct debit carries on each year until cancelled in writing.

When rates are hard to pay

Northern Beaches

The council has a Rates and Annual Charges Hardship Policy for ratepayers in genuine financial hardship. It says ratepayers may be eligible for a concession on the grounds of hardship, or the council may agree to alternative payment plans, and it asks people having difficulty to raise it as soon as possible. The rates information page links the policy and a hardship rate relief form.

City of Melbourne

The council’s rates financial hardship assistance page describes a rate deferral to a negotiated date, or a payment plan applied for before the due dates. Waiving rates is limited to owner-occupiers of a residential property that is their main home, and the page says it is only available to people receiving JobSeeker payments. Interest charges can be suspended, reduced or waived for both residential and commercial ratepayers who meet the policy’s criteria.

The City of Melbourne’s payment page also points eligible ratepayers to its pensioner concession.

Finding your own council’s rules

  • The rates notice is where both councils point for the due dates and the payment reference.
  • Both councils here publish a rates hardship policy, linked from their rates pages.
  • Timing matters at both: the City of Melbourne says a payment plan is applied for before the due dates, and Northern Beaches asks ratepayers who are having difficulty to raise it as soon as possible.