For Healthcare Professionals
Your patient is facing a terminal diagnosis.
Debt should not be part of their story.
Life Without Debt provides free, expert credit mediation for Australians with a terminal illness. If you are a palliative care nurse, social worker, oncologist, or financial counsellor, you can refer a patient directly. We do the rest.
No fees to patients, families, or referring organisations. Ever. Funded entirely by donations.
All mediation is conducted under Australian Credit Licence No. 387398. Fully regulated.
We respond to every referral within 2 business days. Urgent cases are prioritised immediately.
Patient information is handled under strict privacy protocols. We never share without consent.
We take the debt off their plate. Completely.
Life Without Debt is not a helpline or a pamphlet service. When you refer a patient, a licensed credit mediator takes their case and works directly with creditors, banks, and the ATO on their behalf.
Your patient does not need to chase us. We chase the creditors.
Credit Mediation with Banks and Lenders
We negotiate directly with financial institutions to freeze interest, halt legal action, and reach binding agreements the family can live with.
ATO Debt Negotiation
Tax debt does not disappear at death. We negotiate with the ATO on hardship grounds, including terminal illness provisions, to resolve or restructure what is owed.
Formal Hardship Applications
We prepare and lodge hardship applications on behalf of clients. The legal frameworks protecting people with serious diagnoses exist. We know how to use them.
Family and Estate Debt Guidance
We work with patients and families to understand how debt will affect the estate, so families are not left inheriting debt collectors alongside their grief.
Three steps. Less than 10 minutes of your time.
We have made the referral process as simple as possible. You are busy. Your patients are running out of time. We respect both.
Submit the referral form
Fill in your details, your patient's first name, a brief description of their situation, and their consent to be contacted. The form takes less than 5 minutes.
Under 5 minutesWe contact your patient directly
Within 2 business days, our intake team reaches out to the patient or their family. If the situation is urgent, we move immediately. You receive a confirmation email.
Within 2 business daysA licensed mediator takes the case
Once onboarded, a licensed credit mediator works directly with the patient's creditors on their behalf. You return to caring for your patient. We handle the financial battle.
Case resolved on average in 3 weeksHave a patient who needs help right now?
Submit a Referral NowOur commitments
to you and your patient.
Patient Referral Form
All fields marked ✦ are required. This takes less than 5 minutes.
Referral received.
Thank you. We have received your referral and will contact your patient within 2 business days. If you marked this as urgent, we will act today.
A confirmation has been sent to your email. If you need to speak with us directly, call Laurence Hugo or email [email protected]
Submit Another ReferralQuestions from referring professionals
The most common questions we receive from palliative care teams, social workers, and oncology units.
No. We understand that not every patient has received a formal written prognosis, and that some patients may be in the early stages of a serious diagnosis where the terminal nature is not yet official. We assess each case individually. If in doubt, refer anyway. We will assess honestly and let you know.
We regularly work with families and carers rather than the patient directly. If the person with the diagnosis cannot manage the process, we work with their nominated family member, partner, carer, or power of attorney. You can indicate this preference in the referral form.
We work across personal debt including: ATO tax debt, credit cards, personal loans, mortgages and home loans in financial hardship, buy-now-pay-later debt, car loans, and other unsecured consumer debt. We do not currently handle business debt or commercial credit. If you are unsure, refer anyway and we will advise at intake.
Yes. We send a confirmation to your email when we make initial contact with the patient. With the patient's consent, we can also provide you with updates on case progress and a resolution summary when the case closes. You will not be left wondering.
We continue to work with the family and estate. Debt does not disappear at death. It passes to the estate and can affect surviving partners and family members. In some cases, it passes directly to a surviving spouse through joint liability or guarantor arrangements. We can continue supporting the family through this process.
No. There is no cost to referring organisations, patients, or families. Life Without Debt is a registered charity funded entirely by donations. Our service is free at point of delivery. Your organisation assumes no financial liability by referring.
Please do. We actively encourage palliative care teams, oncology units, hospices, and social work departments to add Life Without Debt to their patient resource directories. You can also use the print button on this page to save a PDF version for physical resource folders. Contact us if you would like printed referral cards for your ward or unit.
Your Referral Matters
You see the families who need this.
We can help them.
The debt conversation is one of the hardest conversations in palliative care. You do not have to have it. Refer them to us and we will have it for them, with expertise, at no cost, and with complete compassion.