South East Community Links Bring Your Bills
Free · Walk in · No appointment

Free help with your bills.

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Talk face-to-face with people who can help with your bills: energy, water, phone and anything else you're behind on. Interpreters are there too. Bring what you have and we will take it from there.

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About Bring Your Bills

The rising cost of living is affecting individuals and families right across our region. Bring Your Bills is South East Community Links' community-centred answer: events that connect people with the expert help they need to navigate complex financial challenges, all in the same room, on the same day.

Developed in collaboration with organisations across the financial, legal, utility and government sectors, each event offers free, confidential advice from experienced financial counsellors, lawyers, tenancy workers, utility providers and community services. Interpreters are available so every conversation is clear and culturally safe. You can get practical, in-person support with things like:

  • Unpaid bills and debt
  • Energy, water and phone bills
  • Fines and credit cards
  • Mortgages and personal loans
  • Centrelink and government services
  • Housing and tenancy rights
  • Consumer rights and legal issues
  • Concessions and utility relief grants
3,400+
people supported so far
$11 million+
in community debt addressed
Free
and confidential, every time

Many people who come along are reaching out for support for the very first time. Our work shows that when services meet people where they are (physically, culturally and emotionally) it makes a real difference to their lives.

What to bring

The most important thing to bring is yourself. There's no checklist to pass and nothing you must have, but if any of these are easy to grab on the way out, they help the people you talk to understand your situation faster.

Your bills
Energy, water, phone, internet, rates or any others. Paper or on your phone, paid or unpaid.
Letters and notices
Anything about money you owe: reminders, fines, disconnection or eviction notices, debt collection letters.
Concession card
Concession, pension or health care card if you have one. Useful when talking through discounts and grants.
Photo ID
Something with your name on it, if you have it. Handy if a provider needs to look at your account with you.
Loan or credit statements
Credit card, personal loan or mortgage statements, if money owing is on your mind.
Centrelink details
Your Centrelink number or myGov login, if your question involves payments or entitlements.

What happens on the day

Free, confidential and unhurried. People from all walks of life come along, and many are reaching out for the first time. Take your time; stay as long as you need. And you don't need a "problem" to come: plenty of people drop in just to look around and learn what support exists.

1. Start at the concierge desk
No booking needed. Our concierge team greets you at the entrance, listens to what's going on, and guides you to the right services, or just points out what's here, if you'd rather browse.
2. Talk to the right people
Financial counsellors, lawyers, tenancy workers, your utility providers and community services, often all in the same room. One-to-one, with an interpreter if you need one.
3. Work through it together
Depending on your situation, that can mean checking concessions, exploring utility relief grants and payment plans, sorting out a fine, or simply understanding a confusing bill.
4. Leave knowing your next step
Whatever happens on the day, you leave clearer than you arrived, with next steps, connections to ongoing support, and someone to follow up with if you need it.
Just want to have a look?
You're welcome to come in, wander around, and meet the providers. No bills required. Lots of people come along simply to learn who's out there before they need them.
Need an interpreter?
Just let the concierge desk know. Interpreters help many people feel comfortable talking through money matters in their own language, and we'll arrange it on the spot.
Prefer to talk in private?
Private rooms are set aside for one-on-one conversations about your situation, just ask at the concierge desk.
What we write down
So we can keep running these events and show our funder they work, the worker who helps you writes down a short note about the kind of help you got, for example "help with an energy bill". It has no name, phone number, address or bills in it. You can ask a worker not to write anything down, and you'll get exactly the same help. Your privacy, in plain words.
For community services & councils

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