Support and money
Money, bills and debt help
Find urgent essentials, free financial counselling and hardship routes while keeping shared finances and safety in mind.
Get help with essentials
If you cannot afford food, medicine, transport or a safe place to stay, ask an emergency relief or housing service what it can provide. Local availability and assessment vary. Assistance may be goods, vouchers or bill help rather than cash.
Free financial counselling can help you understand debts and choose the next step. Contact the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can also contact Mob Strong Debt Help on 1800 808 488. Check the linked services for current hours and contact options.
Organise finances safely
Make a practical list of income, essential spending, debts and shared commitments. Keep statements and important documents where it is safe to access them. Ask for legal and financial advice before moving joint funds, changing responsibility for a debt or agreeing to a property settlement.
If someone monitors your accounts or controls access to money, speak to a specialist service about a safety plan. Changing access, bank details or joint arrangements can be noticed. The financial checklist is a prompt for advice, not an instruction to remove all shared money.
Ask creditors about hardship
Contact the lender's hardship team early if repayments are unaffordable. Explain the changed circumstances, major expenses and what you can realistically pay. Ask for written details of any proposed arrangement before agreeing.
Financial counselling can help with the request and with complaints if the lender's response is unsuitable. A hardship arrangement is not the same as cancelling a debt. If an agreed payment becomes unaffordable, contact the lender again.
- Avoid taking expensive new credit just to cover an existing shortfall.
- Ask utilities and other bill providers about their own hardship support.
- Get advice before signing a debt agreement or paying a debt-repair company.
Check time-sensitive violence assistance
Family-violence Crisis Payment has severe-hardship, income-support and living-arrangement conditions. Contact Services Australia or start the claim within 7 days of the relevant event, then submit it within 14 days after contact.
The starting event depends on the living arrangement, such as deciding it is unsafe to return or a responsible person leaving or being removed. Ask promptly if unsure. Separation or receiving FTB alone does not establish eligibility. Other violence support has its own rules.
Your next step
Use the official links above, or find local services in your state.
Sources for this guide
- ASIC Moneysmart: urgent money help (external website) Reviewed 5 October 2026
- ASIC Moneysmart: separation financial checklist (external website) Reviewed 5 October 2026
- ASIC Moneysmart: financial hardship (external website) Reviewed 5 October 2026
- Services Australia: family-violence Crisis Payment (external website) Reviewed 5 October 2026
Related guides
Wording reviewed 5 October 2026. Numerical rules have separate verification dates on Sources and updates.