Credit Mediation
Licensed mediators under ACL 387398 negotiate directly with banks, finance companies, and private creditors to freeze interest, stop legal action, and reach binding agreements families can live with.
Australia's only free, expert debt mediation service for people with a terminal diagnosis
When the diagnosis arrives,
debt should not come with it.
We resolve the personal debts of Australians with a terminal diagnosis. Licensed. Confidential. At no cost to our clients, ever. So the time that is left can be spent with the people who matter most.
$0
Cost to every client. Always. No exceptions.
ACL
Licensed under No. 387398. Fully regulated.
87c
Of every donated dollar reaches direct client service.
ACNC Registered Charity
DGR Endorsed · Tax Deductible
Fully Confidential
Australian Credit Licence No. 387398
No Judgment. No Fees. Ever.
$19.25/week funds one expert negotiation hour
The Moment That Started Everything
"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."
Laurence Hugo, Founder & Technical Negotiator
Credit Mediation Australia. On the client whose situation made this charity necessary.
Real Impact. Real Families. Right Now.
What your support has already done.
31
Cases resolved. Real families, real debt, real resolution.
$
1.82M
Total debt resolved across all cases, and counting.
$
58,700
Average debt resolved per case. Service cost: $1,840
$
0
Charged to every client we have ever helped. This is what we are building a charity to sustain.
The $19.25 Equation
$19.25 per week (about $1,001 a year) funds one hour of licensed expert negotiation each week. On average, those hours resolve $58,700 of debt per client. Every $1 you give resolves about $58 of debt for someone who has no time left to spend on creditor calls.
The Reality We Are Changing
A terminal diagnosis should not come with a debt crisis.
When someone is told they have months to live, everything changes. Except the creditors. Except the ATO. Except the debt collectors who keep calling. The financial system does not pause for the people who need it to most.
Australia has world-class palliative care. It has almost no free, expert support for managing personal debt while living, or dying, with a terminal diagnosis.
- Australians with terminal illness can spend their final months on the phone to creditors instead of present with family
- ATO debt does not disappear on death. It can devastate the families left behind.
- Debt can pass from a deceased person to their surviving partner through joint accounts, guarantor agreements, and estate claims. Financial counsellors call this Sexually Transmitted Debt. It affects roughly 1 in 6 surviving spouses.
- Expert credit mediation costs thousands commercially. We deliver it at no cost to every client.
What We Do
We take the debt off their plate. Entirely.
Life Without Debt does not offer pamphlets or helpline referrals. We take the case. Our licensed practitioners sit across the table from creditors, the ATO, and collection agencies on behalf of people who are out of time and out of options.
ATO Debt Negotiation
Tax debt does not disappear with a person. We negotiate directly with the Australian Tax Office on hardship grounds, including terminal illness provisions, to resolve or restructure what is owed.
Hardship Advocacy
We prepare and lodge formal hardship applications on behalf of clients. The legal frameworks that protect people with a serious diagnosis exist. We know how to enforce them.
Estate Debt Planning
We work with clients and families to understand how debt will affect the estate and loved ones. Planning ahead prevents families from inheriting debt collectors alongside grief.
Family Support and Guidance
When the person with the diagnosis cannot manage the process, we work with their nominated family member or carer. The paperwork burden lifts off the whole household.
Priority Urgent Intake
When someone has weeks not months remaining, standard timelines are unacceptable. Our priority intake moves urgent cases to the front. Because some situations simply cannot wait.
"I had been carrying this for two years. In three weeks they had resolved it. I didn't know that was possible. I just wish I'd known about them sooner."
Client, Victoria. Terminal lung cancer. $67,000 bank debt resolved.
What Resolution Feels Like
Present for the people they love. Not on hold to a creditor.
That is the outcome we exist to create. The real, human experience of knowing that someone qualified is handling the financial battle, so the person with the diagnosis can simply be present for what time remains.
We have seen what happens when people get expert help at the right time. Sleep returns. Parents stop disappearing into paperwork. The time that is left becomes what it should always have been.
This charity exists because Credit Mediation Australia has been doing this quietly, at cost, for years. Life Without Debt is the structure that allows it to continue and reach every Australian who needs it.
Apply for Help Now
Who We Help
If you see yourself here, we can help.
Terminal illness does not choose a type of person. It arrives in every kind of family. In every family it touches, debt follows close behind. We are here for every one of them.
~170,000
Australians die from terminal illness each year
~85,000
Carrying personal debt at time of death
1 in 6
Surviving spouses unknowingly liable for partner's debt
$260K
Average household debt carried into terminal illness
The Diagnosed Person
The Mother of Four
Breast cancer. Four children. A mortgage, credit cards, and an ATO arrangement in her name. She has months of energy left and she is spending it on creditor calls instead of her family.
Apply Now
Spouse and Partner
The Husband Carrying It Silently
His wife has a terminal diagnosis. He is managing carer duties, two children, and a debt the bank keeps calling about. He is trying to protect her. He should not be carrying this alone.
Apply on Her Behalf
Surviving Spouse
The Widow Facing the Paperwork
He handled the finances. He is gone now. The bank is calling about a joint mortgage, a credit card, and a loan she did not know existed. Australian law can make her liable. We know what can be challenged.
Apply for Help
See Everyone We Help
Or send us your situation and we will tell you honestly if we can help.
How We Are Funded
Built to last. Accountable to donors and to clients.
A registered charity funded by individuals, foundations, and corporate partners who believe a terminal diagnosis is hard enough without adding debt collectors to it.
Individual Giving
Australians who want their donations to have direct, measurable impact on real people in their most difficult moments. Every dollar tracked publicly.
Grants and Foundations
Government and philanthropic grant programs supporting cancer care, palliative services, and financial inclusion across Australia.
Corporate Partnerships
Businesses in healthcare, legal, financial, and palliative care who want to contribute to a cause aligned with their values and their clients' lives.
Full Transparency
Annual ACNC-filed accounts, a public impact report, and governance that every donor and client can inspect and trust. No exceptions.