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In NSW you can ask your energy retailer for a payment plan by phone or in writing. The energy rules list no documents you need to start one. While you keep to the plan, the retailer can't disconnect you. The exceptions: you asked it to, didn't give access to your meter, or energy was obtained by fraud or deliberately used against energy laws.
NSW, and other states that use the national energy rules. Victoria, WA and the NT have their own rules.. Checked
“I'm having difficulty paying my bill and I'd like to talk about a payment plan I can afford.”
In NSW, if you tell your retailer by phone or in writing that you're having trouble paying, it generally has to offer you a payment plan.Law
The plan has to take into account what you can afford, what you owe and the energy you're expected to use over the next 12 months.
Your retailer also has to tell you about government energy rebates, concessions and relief schemes.
In NSW, a retailer can't disconnect you while you keep to a payment plan, including a hardship plan. This doesn't apply if you asked to be disconnected, if energy at your home was obtained by fraud, or if it was deliberately used against the energy laws. It also doesn't apply if the disconnection is because you didn't give access to your meter.
The retailer doesn't have to offer a plan if 2 of your plans were cancelled for non-payment in the last 12 months. The same applies if you were convicted of illegal energy use in the last 2 years. Neither exception applies if you may be affected by family violence and someone else may have been responsible. If you have a prepayment meter on a market contract, the payment plan rule doesn't cover you.
A plan that is cancelled for non-payment counts toward that limit, so an amount you can keep paying matters.
In NSW, you may be able to get Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) if you're the main holder of an open home energy account and a crisis or emergency means you're struggling to pay your energy bill. An approved amount is credited to your energy account, not paid to you. You apply through Service NSW or an approved community organisation.
Tell your retailer when you apply for EAPA. While it knows you're waiting for a decision, it can't disconnect you, start disconnection steps, add late fees, or start collecting the debt or take legal action. This lasts until the application is decided or withdrawn.
The rules don't list documents you need to start a plan. Your retailer may ask about your situation to set the plan.Law
A retailer's hardship policy must not include unreasonable conditions for getting into, or back into, its hardship program. The energy regulator gives examples of what may be unreasonable. These include having to attend financial counselling, or to be represented by someone else, such as a financial counsellor. Having to pay your bills on time is another example.Regulator's guideline
If a retailer asks for bank statements before a plan, you can say the rules don't list documents to start one, and ask what it needs them for.
“Can you tell me what you need this information for? And can you send that request to me in writing, please?”
Ask for it in writing only to an email or address that no one else can see.
“I can't agree to an amount I can't keep up. I'd like to talk to a financial counsellor and come back to you. Please put your offer in writing.”
It helps to offer only what you can keep up after rent, energy and food. You don't have to agree to an amount on the first call.
EWON, the free energy and water ombudsman (NSW)
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Checked 7 October 2026.
This is general information, not financial or legal advice. A creditor's own policy can be more generous than the rules here.