Who We Are and Why We Exist

Built around a single, simple belief: a serious diagnosis is enough to carry. Debt collectors should not be part of it.

Life Without Debt was born inside Credit Mediation Australia, where between 10% and 25% of cases involve a client who has received a terminal diagnosis. We have always taken those cases for free. This charity formalises that commitment and funds it properly.

The Story Behind the Charity

We were already doing this. We just needed a way to keep doing it.

Credit Mediation Australia has been in the business of resolving consumer debt since its founding. From the very first day, we received enquiries from people facing financial hardship alongside a terminal diagnosis. And from the very first day, we took those cases for free. No invoice. No arrangement. We just did it.

Over time, those cases grew. Between 10% and 25% of our capacity now involves a client who has received a terminal diagnosis. That is not a statistic we are proud of in the way charities are proud of reach. It is a number that tells us how many people are out there, right now, spending the time they have worried about money instead of being present with family.

"She had 8 to 12 months to live. Her doctors had told her the truth. And instead of spending that time with her children, instead of resting, instead of being present, she was lying awake at 3am terrified about what her tax debt would do to her family when she was gone."

We resolved her ATO debt completely. It took months of specialist work. In a commercial setting it would have cost $15,000 to $25,000 in professional fees. She paid nothing. She told us afterwards it was the first time in years she had felt like a person again. Not a problem. Not a debtor. A person.

Life Without Debt is the answer to the question: how do we keep doing this without it destroying the commercial practice that funds it? The answer is a properly structured charity with its own funding base, its own team, and the full backing of Credit Mediation Australia's licensed practitioners.

The work does not change. The expertise does not change. The cost to clients does not change. It stays at zero. What changes is that we can take more cases, reach more families, and stop absorbing the cost ourselves.

Laurence Hugo, Founder and Technical Negotiator

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The Scale of the Problem

Every kind of family. Every kind of debt. Every week in Australia.

Terminal illness does not choose a type of person. It arrives in families with mortgages and families with tax debts. In mothers of four and men with MND. In elderly couples and parents of young children. The debt that follows does not discriminate either.

~50,000

Cancer Deaths Per Year

Australia's leading cause of death. Breast, bowel, lung, and prostate are the four most common. Any can produce a debt crisis.

~30,000

Heart and Vascular Deaths

Often sudden or rapidly progressive. Families frequently have no financial preparation time before the person dies or loses capacity.

~12,000

Respiratory and MND Deaths

COPD, MND, pulmonary fibrosis. Progressive diseases that allow planning time but rarely financial preparation. Tradies and self-employed heavily represented.

~800

Children Die Per Year (0 to 14)

Each child's death leaves parents who have often exhausted carer leave, depleted savings, and accumulated credit card debt during prolonged hospital-based care.

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The Leadership Team

Two people who have been doing this work for years. Now building the structure to do it properly.

Life Without Debt is led by Lisa Hugo and Laurence Hugo. Between them they bring the operational leadership, the legal and technical expertise, and the direct client experience that makes this charity different from a well-meaning idea. The organisation is deliberately designed to outlive its founders, constitutionally governed, board-succession-planned, and operationally documented to function independently of any individual practitioner.

Lisa Hugo

Founder, Operations and Strategy Lead

Lisa leads the day-to-day operations of Life Without Debt. She oversees client intake, team management, partnerships, fundraising, and the systems that allow the charity to function at the standard our clients deserve. Lisa's role is to build and run an organisation that is as professional and trustworthy as the work it does.

Day-to-day operations management
Strategic planning and growth
Funder relationships and grant management
Team and volunteer coordination

Laurence Hugo

Founder and Technical Negotiator

Laurence is the practitioner. He is the person who sits across the table from banks, the ATO, and collection agencies and negotiates the resolution of personal debt on behalf of people facing a terminal diagnosis. His work is licensed under Australian Credit Licence No. 387398 through Credit Mediation Services Pty Ltd, the commercial practice that seeded this charity.

Licensed under ACL No. 387398
Direct ATO and creditor negotiation
Terminal illness hardship cases
15 years frontline credit mediation

We are building the broader team now. If you are an accredited financial counsellor, legal professional, or experienced NFP administrator, we would like to hear from you.

What We Stand For

Seven commitments that shape every case we take.

Dignity Above Everything

A person with a terminal diagnosis who is carrying debt is not a bad financial manager. They are a person who got sick. We treat every client with the respect that reality demands.

Genuinely Free

Not subsidised. Not means-tested with hidden catches. Free for every client, for every case, without exception. Our funding comes from donors. Never from the people we serve.

Licensed Expertise

We operate under Australian Credit Licence No. 387398. The work we do is not amateur advocacy. It is licensed, qualified, professional credit mediation delivered by practitioners with decades of frontline experience.

Absolute Confidentiality

Your situation is private. We never contact creditors, family members, or anyone else without your explicit written consent. Your application cannot be used against you in any proceeding.

Outcomes Not Optics

We measure success by what actually changes for clients. Debts resolved. Creditor calls stopped. Families protected from estate debt. Not by how many brochures we distribute or events we attend.

Time Is the Point

For the people we serve, time is not a resource. It is the whole point. Every week we take to resolve a case is a week they spend worrying. We move fast because fast is what respect looks like here.

We Also Protect the Living

Surviving partners, adult children, and guarantors can inherit debt obligations they did not create. Financial counsellors call this Sexually Transmitted Debt. It is present in nearly 30% of our cases. We address it directly, protecting families both before and after bereavement.

A Dimension Most People Don't Know Exists

Debt can be transmitted through the act of dying.

Financial counsellors use the term Sexually Transmitted Debt to describe debt that passes between intimate partners and family members through joint liability, guarantor obligations, and estate mechanisms. It is present in nearly 30% of our cases and disproportionately affects women. We address it directly — before bereavement and after.

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Why This Charity Had to Exist

The financial system does not stop when a diagnosis arrives. So we step in.

More than 130,000 Australians are diagnosed with cancer each year. Thousands more receive diagnoses for other life-limiting conditions. A significant proportion of them are carrying personal debt when that diagnosis arrives. Credit cards. Loans. ATO obligations. And suddenly the system that was already hard to navigate becomes impossible to deal with.

The legal protections exist. The hardship frameworks are real. The ability to negotiate with the ATO on terminal illness grounds is documented policy. What is missing is someone who knows how to use those tools and will do it for free. That gap is what Life Without Debt fills.

Credit Mediation Australia has been filling it quietly for years. This charity is the structure that makes that sustainable, fundable, and scaleable. Because one family at a time is not enough anymore.

Fund This Work

How We Work

We do not give advice. We take the case.

From the moment a client applies, our job is to remove the debt burden from their plate entirely. Here is how that works in practice.

Confidential Application

The client or their family member submits a short, private application. No trick questions. No eligibility traps. We ask what we need to understand the situation.

Assessment Within 48 Hours

A qualified team member contacts the applicant directly. We explain honestly what we can do, what the timeline looks like, and what we will need from them to proceed.

Strategy and Case Assignment

Laurence Hugo or one of our licensed practitioners takes the case. We map the creditors, identify the applicable hardship frameworks, and build a negotiation strategy.

Direct Creditor Negotiation

We contact creditors on behalf of the client under our ACL authorisation. We apply the terminal illness hardship provisions, challenge unlawful conduct, and negotiate binding arrangements.

Resolution and Documentation

We secure a written agreement: a payment arrangement, a debt waiver, or a formal hardship determination. The client receives documentation they can rely on and keep.

Ongoing Monitoring

If a creditor does not honour the arrangement, we go back in. Resolution means it stays resolved. We do not close a case until it is genuinely done.

Accountability and Governance

Transparent by design. Every dollar accountable.

Life Without Debt is a registered Australian charity, structured as a Company Limited by Guarantee. We hold ACNC registration, DGR endorsement, and Public Benevolent Institution status. All donations of $2 or more are fully tax deductible.

The board operates independently of management. Accounts are publicly filed with the ACNC. Our annual impact report is published in plain language that any donor can read and understand.

Company Limited by Guarantee, registered with ASIC
Registered charity with the ACNC
DGR endorsed. All donations over $2 are fully tax deductible.
Public Benevolent Institution (PBI) status confirmed
Credit Mediation Services Pty Ltd provides practitioner services under ACL No. 387398
Annual Impact Report published and freely available
Board Succession Plan in force; governance does not depend on founding individuals
Standard Operating Procedure Manual enables continuity independent of any practitioner
Built to operate in perpetuity, not just for as long as its founders are alive

87c

Per donated dollar to direct client services (audited annually)

Cost to any client. Ever. For any service.

ACL

Licensed under No. 387398. Not just well-meaning. Qualified.

DGR

Tax-deductible giving. Your donation works harder.

Get in Touch

Talk to us. No obligation, no form-filling required.

Whether you need help, want to support the mission, are considering a partnership, or want to join our team, we want to hear from you. Every message is read by a real person.

Email

[email protected]

Phone

We will call you. Tell us your number in your message and your preferred time.

Coverage

Australia-wide. Remote-first. Every state and territory.

Response Time

Within 2 business days. Urgent terminal illness cases are triaged immediately.