Start with your retailer, not the bill. From there, EAPA crisis credits, the rebates, and the ombudsman each add another layer — this page walks the exact order.
Last checked: against NSW Government, AER and EWON sources. No sign-up, nothing stored.
Facing disconnection right now?
One phone call starts everything. Your NSW energy retailer must have a customer hardship policy for its home customers and follow it. You don't need special words — just say you're having trouble paying. Your retailer may ask for some details as part of setting up help, but the conversation starts with a phone call.
A retailer doesn't have to offer a plan if two of your plans were cancelled for non-payment in the last 12 months. The same goes if you were convicted of illegally using energy in the last 2 years. This limit doesn't apply if you may be affected by family violence and someone else may have been wholly or partly responsible. Even when the limit applies, you can still ask.
Waiving fees or arrears is up to the retailer under its policy. Ask for it, but don't count on it.
If you buy energy through your building, caravan park or retirement village instead of an energy retailer, these rules may not apply the same way. Ask the seller what help it offers.
What can they ask you for before a plan? What creditors can ask for, type by type
“I'm having difficulty paying my bill — I'd like to talk about payment options.”
If the first offer isn't affordable: “I'd like to speak to your hardship (affordability) team.”
Say what you can pay. If the offer is more than that, ask for the hardship team rather than just saying no. If a plan stops being affordable, call before you miss a payment and ask to change it. Making irregular payments without an agreed plan does not protect you from disconnection.
Hardship programs can include flexible payment plans, Centrepay deductions from a Centrelink payment, waived late fees, a check that you're on the retailer's best plan for you, and energy-efficiency help. You can also compare every plan on the market yourself with Energy Made Easy, the government's free comparison site.
| Retailer | Program | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| AGL | Staying Connected | 131 245 |
| Origin | Power On | 13 24 61 |
| EnergyAustralia | EnergyAssist | 1800 558 643 |
| Red Energy | Customer Care Program | 1800 723 749 |
| Alinta Energy | Alinta Assist | 1300 282 613 |
With your permission, a financial counsellor or another support person can call for you. Each of these retailers' published policies allows it, though some need you on the call to say so, or a signed authority form. And if you'd rather put it in writing, our free Hardship Helper writes a clear, professional hardship letter for you.
Your retailer must recognise family violence as a likely cause of trouble paying. It can't make you show documents to prove it. Its process must avoid you having to keep repeating what happened. It can't share your details with anyone else, including someone on a joint account, without your consent, unless the law requires it. It must contact you the way you prefer and waive late payment fees. If you ask to pay by Centrepay, it must let you, or review your contract if your plan doesn't offer it. Before chasing a debt or passing it to a debt collector, it must consider the impact on you. It must also consider whether someone else is wholly or partly responsible for the energy use behind the debt. It can also waive or pause the debt, or buy it back from a debt collector.
If it's safe for you, contact your retailer from a safe phone or device. First tell them the safest way to reach you. Then say you may be affected by family violence. You don't have to show documents to prove it. A family violence service or a financial counsellor can call with you, or for you once you say they can. The retailer's family violence policy is on its website.
These protections are for accounts in your name, now or in the past, or one you're setting up. If the account is only in someone else's name, talk to a family violence service before you contact the retailer.
Waiving, pausing or buying back the debt is up to the retailer. Ask for it, but don't count on it.
EAPA (Energy Accounts Payment Assistance) pays up to $400 per fuel — electricity and gas — per application, up to twice per fuel each financial year, straight onto your energy account. You don't need a concession card and you don't need to be on Centrelink. It exists for exactly this situation: a short-term crisis — lost income, unexpected medical costs, a disaster, a disconnection notice — and your most recent bill unpaid.
| Path | Online via Service NSW | Community organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Where | service.nsw.gov.au, or phone 13 77 88 | One of the approved organisations across NSW — map and list on energy.nsw.gov.au |
| Speed | Service NSW says it will call you in around 7 weeks to assess your eligibility | Assessed on the spot at a booked appointment |
| Best for | Not urgent, comfortable online | Facing disconnection, no email, prefer face-to-face, or want help with more than one thing at once |
When a community organisation “helps you apply”, that undersells it: they are accredited assessors who decide on the spot and lodge the application directly — and the same appointment can often connect you with no-interest loans, food relief, and free financial counselling.
If disconnection is looming, book or apply, and tell your retailer.
The NSW Government says your energy provider can't disconnect you if it knows you have an EAPA assessment appointment booked. So tell your retailer as soon as you book. Also tell it you're having trouble paying, and ask for a payment plan while you wait.
Book an EAPA assessment or apply online, and tell your retailer straight away, by phone or in writing. Keep a note of when you told them. The protection depends on the retailer knowing.
In NSW, while your EAPA application is waiting to be assessed and your retailer knows about it, the retailer must not disconnect you or start any disconnection steps. It also must not add late fees, or begin debt recovery or proceedings.
The protection depends on the retailer knowing you are awaiting EAPA assessment. If you have not told them, they may not know. It ends when the application is decided or withdrawn.
If you already have court papers about the debt, don't ignore them: get free legal help straight away.
NSW energy rebates are worth hundreds of dollars a year, and they're worth checking even if you've never claimed before. Most are claimed through your retailer with one phone call. If you live in an embedded network (your building bills you), you claim through Service NSW instead — 2026–27 embedded applications open 10 August 2026. Amounts below are the published 2026–27 figures.
| Rebate | Worth | Concession card? | How to apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Income Household Rebate | Up to $285 a year ($313.50 in an embedded network) | Yes — Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Low Income Health Care Card, or Veteran Gold Card | Call your electricity retailer with your card details |
| Gas Rebate | Up to $110 a year ($121 embedded) | Yes — same four cards | Through your gas retailer; LPG bottled gas via Service NSW (opens 10 Aug 2026) |
| Seniors Energy Rebate | $200 a year | Yes — Commonwealth Seniors Health Card | Service NSW — 2026–27 applications open 10 Aug 2026. Can't be combined with the Low Income Household Rebate |
| Family Energy Rebate | Up to $180 a year ($198 embedded); drops to $20 ($22 embedded) if you also get the Low Income Household Rebate | No — based on receiving Family Tax Benefit last financial year | Service NSW — the 2026–27 round opens in August 2026 |
| Medical Energy Rebate | Up to $285 a year ($313.50 embedded) | Yes — same four cards, plus a doctor's assessment (inability to self-regulate body temperature) | Form through your electricity retailer |
| Life Support Rebate | Depends on the equipment you run | No — based on approved equipment at home (e.g. home dialysis, ventilator, oxygen concentrator), certified by your doctor | Form to your retailer; embedded networks via Service NSW from 10 Aug 2026 |
Two things worth knowing. First, the national Energy Bill Relief credits that used to appear automatically on bills have ended — the final instalment was applied in December 2025, and there is no 2026–27 program, so don't budget around it. Second, EAPA (step 2) is the one scheme on this page that needs no concession card at all. To check everything you're eligible for in one pass, use the Energy Savings Finder on Service NSW.
The Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) is the free, independent umpire that covers every NSW electricity and gas retailer — membership is compulsory for them. Call 1800 246 545, Mon–Fri 9am–5pm (excluding public holidays). For an interpreter, call 131 450 first. You can also lodge online any time. If you've been disconnected or are at risk, EWON says to call them.
If EWON sends your complaint to your provider's specialist complaints team, EWON says the team will contact you within 5 business days and tell you what it will do next. If EWON investigates, it may ask you and the provider for information, and you deal with EWON rather than the provider about the complaint, unless you all agree otherwise. You can still contact the provider about other things. If you're not satisfied with the final result, you can ask EWON in writing to review it. Your request must reach EWON within 28 days of the date on its case closure letter or final report.
While EWON looks into your complaint, pay any part of the bill that isn't in dispute, and any new bills. If you can't, tell EWON. If it looks like you're avoiding payment, EWON may close the case.
If your complaint is about why they want to disconnect you, they can't disconnect you while it's unresolved. Ask the retailer or EWON to confirm the hold.
Yes, but only after the warning notices below, and not in the situations in the full list. In NSW, Queensland, SA, Tasmania and the ACT, if you owe less than $500 (including GST) and you have agreed a repayment with your retailer, the retailer must not disconnect you for that amount. Being under the minimum amount alone does not stop disconnection. The protection needs both parts: under the amount AND a repayment agreed with the retailer.
If you buy energy through your building, caravan park or retirement village instead of an energy retailer, these rules may not apply the same way. Ask the seller what help it offers.
A reminder notice can't be issued before the next business day after your bill's pay-by date. It must give you until at least 6 business days after its issue date to pay. A disconnection warning notice can't be issued before the next business day after that. It must give you until at least 6 business days after its issue date. The warning notice must tell you how reconnection works and about any fee, and how to contact the energy ombudsman. The retailer must have offered to let you pay by instalments. After the warning notice, it must try to contact you in person, by phone, or by email or text. A call, email or text you didn't answer or acknowledge doesn't count as contact. But the retailer only has to make its best effort, so reply when it gets in touch. It can't disconnect you if you've taken any reasonable steps towards paying.
If you get a reminder or warning notice, contact your retailer before the end date on it and ask for a payment plan. If you didn't get a reminder first, a notice leaves something out, or you think you're about to be disconnected wrongly, contact the energy ombudsman.
These are the minimum steps. If you're a hardship customer, or have told the retailer you're having trouble paying, more protections apply: see the payment plan protections.
If your retailer has put you on a shortened collection cycle, it can skip the reminder notice. A warning notice can come straight after the pay-by date.
If you may be affected by family violence, the retailer must contact you the way you said you prefer. Before disconnecting, it must consider how that would affect you, and whether someone else is wholly or partly responsible for the bill not being paid.
Contact your retailer straight away. Ask what you need to pay or agree to, and ask for a payment plan you can afford. If you can't pay anything yet, tell them and ask what help its hardship policy offers. If you can't reach them, or think you shouldn't have been disconnected, contact the energy ombudsman.
EWON: 1800 246 545, Mon–Fri 9am–5pm (excluding public holidays)
In NSW, the energy ombudsman says reconnection often happens the same day once you've paid something or agreed a plan. It may be the next day if you were disconnected at the pole or call late in the afternoon. It says you'll usually pay a disconnection fee and a reconnection fee, set by the Australian Energy Regulator. There may be extra fees after 3pm on weekdays, or if you were disconnected at the pole. These can only be the network's charges passed on: the retailer can't add a disconnection or reconnection fee of its own. The ombudsman also says there should be no fee if you were disconnected by mistake, or the retailer didn't try to contact you first.
The retailer must arrange your reconnection if, within 10 business days of being disconnected, you've done three things. You've fixed what led to it or made arrangements the retailer accepts, asked to be reconnected, and paid any reconnection charge. The retailer then asks the distributor to reconnect you, or reconnects you remotely where that's allowed.
After 10 business days, the retailer no longer has to reconnect you under this rule, and your contract may end. Contact your retailer or the energy ombudsman anyway to ask how to get reconnected.
If your home is registered for life support equipment, the retailer must not disconnect you. Contact your retailer and the energy ombudsman now. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 000.
Financial counsellors generally treat the bills that protect your home and essential services — rent or mortgage, then energy — as the priority, ahead of credit cards and personal loans, which have their own hardship processes. A free financial counsellor on 1800 007 007 can help you work out an order for your situation.
Need emergency money for more than the power bill? Our emergency money guide covers crisis payments and charity relief, and our energy rights page summarises the protections state by state.
Last checked: . This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice. Scheme amounts and rules change — always confirm with the source before relying on a figure. For help with your specific situation, call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 (free, confidential).
Not sure where to start?
National Debt Helpline: 1800 007 007 — free, confidential
Or talk to us — we can help you figure out the right next step.