What retailers are required to offer
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) lists what energy retailers are required to do for customers in the five jurisdictions the Retail Law covers. Two of them are about paying in parts:
- “Provide you with flexible payment options.”
- “Provide hardship programs that provide assistance such as payment plans and energy efficiency advice or waive late payment fees if you are having difficulty paying your bill.”
Every retailer must have a customer hardship policy that supports residential customers who are having trouble paying, and helps them manage their bills on an ongoing basis. The AER approves each policy and monitors compliance. It also says disconnection should only ever be a last resort.
Retailers must publish their hardship policy on their website, and the AER keeps links to approved policies on its customer hardship policies page.
What a hardship policy has to cover
The AER’s binding Customer hardship policy guideline sets out what a retailer’s policy must deal with. In the AER’s summary, the requirements include:
| Requirement | What it means for a customer |
|---|---|
| Identifying hardship | Processes for the retailer to identify payment difficulty due to hardship, or for customers to identify it themselves. |
| An early response | Processes to respond early to customers in hardship. |
| Flexible payment options | Including payment plans and Centrepay, which Moneysmart describes as Centrelink deductions. |
| Concessions and counselling | Telling customers about concession programs and financial counselling services. |
| Assistance programs | An outline of the programs the retailer may use to help. |
| A better plan | Checking whether there is a better energy plan the retailer can offer. |
| Energy efficiency | Help, if necessary, to improve energy efficiency. |
The AER also lists extra protections for customers affected by family violence. Retailers must recognise family violence as a likely cause of hardship or payment difficulty, waive late payment fees, allow payment by Centrepay, and may not require documentary evidence.
In NSW: payment arrangements and disconnection
The Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) explains how this works in NSW. Electricity and gas retailers there must have a hardship policy and a customer assistance program, and each retailer may have its own rules about who can join. EWON says that if you join a customer assistance program, you are protected from disconnection, and the retailer must help you set up a payment plan that suits your needs. Some retailers offer extra help for regular payments, such as waiving fees or making co-payments.
EWON reports new rules for NSW energy customers introduced from 1 July 2026:
- A retailer can no longer disconnect a customer for not paying when they owe less than $500.
- A customer who has agreed a payment arrangement is protected from disconnection too.
- Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA), which the NSW Government funds to give emergency help , can now be applied in exact dollar amounts rather than in $50 steps.
EWON also lists help beyond the retailer, including NSW Government energy rebates and EAPA, which it describes as being for short-term money problems, a crisis or an emergency. Its help paying bills page has the full list.
The order things usually go in
- The retailer. Both Moneysmart and EWON say to speak to the provider first, and straight away; Moneysmart lists options such as an extension, paying in instalments, Centrepay deductions and rebates or vouchers.
- The hardship policy. If the first answer doesn’t fit, the retailer’s published hardship policy sets out what it has committed to; the AER links each approved policy.
- The ombudsman. In NSW, EWON takes complaints about trouble paying bills, once you have tried to fix the problem with the provider. Moneysmart lists where to take an energy complaint in each state and territory on its how to complain page.
Moneysmart warns that a provider you don’t contact may suspend or disconnect your service. To compare plans, the Australian Government’s Energy Made Easy site is the one EWON points to.
In Victoria
The AER’s rights page notes that its information applies to customers in Queensland, NSW, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania only, and that Victorian customers should look to the Essential Services Commission. Moneysmart lists the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria for complaints there.