Priority Assistance and Vulnerable Customers Policy

Anyone can need extra help from us, and circumstances change. This policy explains the support we offer, how to ask for it, and — just as importantly — the things we cannot do, so you can make an informed choice about whether a Service from us is right for you.

This policy applies to every Consumer Customer, and to Business Customers where the circumstances fit. It is written with particular regard to people who:

(a) live with, or care for someone living with, a life-threatening medical condition; (b) rely on a medical alarm, security alarm, autodialler or similar device; (c) live with disability, or who are Deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment; (d) need an interpreter or prefer to deal with us in a language other than English; (e) are affected by family or domestic violence; (f) are experiencing financial difficulty; or (g) are dealing with serious illness, injury, bereavement, natural disaster or another significant life event.

This policy sits in Section D and forms part of your Agreement with us. It works alongside the other parts of the Agreement — where a Service-specific term applies, you will find it in your Product Specific Terms in Section B or the Common Terms in Section C. Nothing in this policy limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

We apply this policy consistently with the applicable ACMA-registered industry code or standard for consumer protection, and we will not treat you less favourably because you have asked us for support under it.

You can tell us about your support needs at any time — when you first enquire, when you sign up, or later on. You can do this by calling us on 1300 994 884, by email, or through the contact options at lightningip.com.au. If it is easier for you, someone else can tell us on your behalf in accordance with the Letting someone else deal with us about your account section of Section A.

We will only record information about your support needs, health, safety or personal circumstances with your consent, and we will record only what we reasonably need to give you the support you have asked for. We do this so that you do not have to repeat your circumstances every time you contact us.

Any Personal Information we record under this policy is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy in Section D and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles. Information about your health or safety is sensitive information, and we will not use or disclose it for any purpose other than supporting you and meeting our legal obligations, unless you agree or the law requires or permits it.

You can ask us at any time to change or remove a support note on your account, or to withdraw your consent. If you withdraw consent, we may no longer be able to provide the support that relied on it, and we will tell you if that is the case.

Priority Assistance is a service for people who have, or who live with someone who has, a diagnosed life-threatening medical condition where there is a risk of rapid, life-threatening deterioration. A Priority Assistance service gives priority for connection and fault repair, and includes an alternative service while a fault is being fixed.

Lightning IP does not provide Priority Assistance and cannot offer you a Priority Assistance service. We are a carriage service provider that resells services over networks owned and operated by others. We are not the universal service provider, we are not a provider of last resort, and we cannot give priority to a connection or fault repair that depends on a Supplier's network. Our fault response is described in the Faults and service assurance section of Section C.

Priority Assistance is available from Telstra as the provider of last resort under the industry code for priority assistance for life-threatening medical conditions (C609:2007).

If you or anyone at your premises has, or may have, a life-threatening medical condition, and a priority connection and fault repair service matters to you, please do not rely on a Service from us for that purpose. Arrange a Priority Assistance service from Telstra as described in the How to arrange Priority Assistance from Telstra clause below.

When we will tell you. We will give you the information in this section:

(a) before you enter into an Agreement with us, wherever you tell us or ask us about a life-threatening medical condition or Priority Assistance during the sales process; (b) at any later time you raise Priority Assistance or tell us that you or someone at your premises has a life-threatening medical condition; and (c) in response to any enquiry about Priority Assistance, whether you are a customer or not.

What we will tell you is simply this: we cannot provide Priority Assistance; Priority Assistance is available from Telstra as the provider of last resort; and here is how to arrange it.

How to arrange it. Contact Telstra on 13 22 00 and ask for Priority Assistance, or search for "Priority Assistance" at telstra.com.au. Telstra will explain what it can offer at your address and what it needs from you. An application for Priority Assistance generally needs to be certified by a registered medical practitioner, so it is worth starting the process before you need it. Telstra, not us, decides who is eligible for Priority Assistance and what that service includes.

We will not discourage you. We will never discourage you from applying for, taking or keeping a Priority Assistance service from Telstra or any other provider, and we will not treat you less favourably for doing so. You can hold a Priority Assistance service from Telstra as well as a Service from us — for example a Telstra Priority Assistance phone service alongside nbn broadband from us — and our staff will tell you plainly that this is a sensible option if a priority service matters to you.

If you signed up and then find out you need Priority Assistance. Tell us, and we will work with you to change or end your Service. If you cancel a Service within its Minimum Term because you need a Priority Assistance service and we did not give you the information in this section before you signed up, we will not charge you an early termination charge. Any charges for equipment or work already done are set out in your Critical Information Summary.

Some devices were designed to work over the old copper telephone network and may not work, or may not work reliably, over an nbn or mobile Service. These include medical alarms, personal alarms, monitored security and fire alarms, autodiallers, lift emergency phones, EFTPOS terminals and fax machines.

Please tell us if you, or anyone at your premises, uses a device like this. You can tell us when you enquire, when you order, or at any time afterwards. If you tell us, we will:

(a) tell you what we know about compatibility limitations for the Service and access technology at your address; (b) tell you where the limitation comes from — usually the device, the access technology, or the way the device dials — so you can take it up with the right party; and (c) note your device on your account with your consent, so our staff know about it when you contact us.

What you need to do. Because we do not make or monitor these devices, and cannot test them, you should:

(d) register the device on the relevant national alarm or medical alarm register, so the network operator knows it is in use at your address; (e) confirm compatibility directly with your alarm, device or monitoring provider before your Service is connected or changed, and again after connection; and (f) have a back-up plan — including an alternative way to call for help — in case the device does not work over your Service.

More detail about nbn access technologies, migration and equipment at your premises is in the nbn broadband Product Specific Terms in Section B. Information about calling emergency services is in the Emergency call services section of Section C.

We will tell you what we know, but we cannot guarantee that any device that relies on a phone line will work over a Service, and you should not rely on us to test or certify it.

Your nbn Service will not work during a power outage. An nbn connection depends on powered equipment at your premises — the nbn connection device and your modem or router — and on powered equipment in the street. If the power goes out at your premises or in your area, your Service will stop working until power is restored. That means:

(a) you will not be able to use the internet; (b) any voice service you use over your broadband connection, including any service from another provider, will not work; and (c) any device that depends on your broadband connection — including alarms and autodiallers — will not work.

A mobile Service will keep working while your handset has charge and the mobile network in your area has power, but mobile network equipment can also be affected by extended outages.

If you depend on a working connection, please:

(d) keep a mobile phone charged, with credit or an active plan, and know whether it has coverage at your premises; (e) make sure you have an alternative means of calling Triple Zero (000) — a charged mobile is the usual answer; and (f) talk to your alarm or device provider about back-up power and back-up dialling paths for any device you rely on.

You can call Triple Zero (000) from a mobile handset even without a SIM or credit, provided there is mobile coverage. The National Relay Service emergency number for TTY users is 106.

We give you this disclosure because we are required to under the Telecommunications (NBN Consumer Information) Industry Standard 2018, and because it matters. It is repeated in your Critical Information Summary and Key Facts Sheet. Planned and unplanned outages are covered in the Planned works, maintenance and outages section of Section C.

If a standard bill, notice or document does not work for you, tell us what does. On request, and at no additional charge, we will provide your bills and the key documents that make up this Agreement — including your Critical Information Summary, Key Facts Sheet, this policy, our Financial Hardship Policy and our Complaints Handling Policy — in an accessible format. Depending on the document, that may include large print, plain-text or accessible PDF, HTML on our website, an emailed electronic copy you can use with a screen reader, or a document read to you over the phone.

We will confirm what we can provide and when. If we cannot produce a particular format, we will tell you why and offer a reasonable alternative.

You can deal with us by phone on 1300 994 884, by email, or through the contact options at lightningip.com.au, and we will accommodate a reasonable preference — for example dealing with you in writing rather than by phone, allowing extra time on a call, or agreeing a longer response window for a notice where the law allows.

We design our website and customer communications with accessibility in mind, and we welcome feedback where we have fallen short. If something we send you or something on our website is not accessible to you, tell us and we will fix it or find another way to get you the information.

The National Relay Service (NRS) is an Australian Government service that lets people who are Deaf or who have a hearing or speech impairment make and receive phone calls. A relay officer joins the call and converts between text, typed captions, signing or speech.

To contact us through the NRS, use your preferred NRS call channel and ask for Lightning IP on 1300 994 884. Common options include:

(a) the NRS app or web browser relay at accesshub.gov.au; (b) SMS relay on 0423 677 767; (c) voice relay on 1300 555 727; and (d) TTY on 133 677.

The NRS Helpdesk is on 1800 555 660 and can help you choose and set up the right call channel. Current call channels, numbers and how-to guides are at accesshub.gov.au — that is the authoritative source, so please check there if a number above has changed.

In an emergency, TTY users can call 106 directly. NRS calls to us are welcome on any matter, including sales, faults, billing and complaints, and we will treat an NRS call exactly as we would treat any other call — including for the purposes of our Complaints Handling Policy.

If you would rather deal with us in a language other than English, or you use Auslan, tell us. We will arrange or accommodate interpreting support so you can deal with us properly, and we will not use a lack of English as a reason to refuse to help you.

You can contact us through TIS National (Translating and Interpreting Service) on 131 450 and ask for Lightning IP on 1300 994 884. TIS National is an Australian Government interpreting service. You can also ask us to arrange an interpreter for a call with you — tell us the language you need and we will organise it where we reasonably can, at no charge to you.

You are also welcome to have a family member, friend or community worker interpret for you or speak with us on your behalf. Where someone speaks with us about your account, we will need your authority first — see the Letting someone else deal with us about your account section of Section A.

We will not rely on an explanation given through an interpreter or a third party as your agreement to something significant — such as entering into an Agreement, or accepting a change of plan — unless we are reasonably satisfied that you understood and agreed to it. Where a decision commits you to Charges or a Minimum Term, we will confirm it with you in writing.

We recognise that a telecommunications service can be used to monitor, locate, harass or control a person, and that dealing with a provider can itself be unsafe or exhausting. If you are affected by family or domestic violence, our commitments to you are:

(a) Safety first. We will prioritise your safety over process. Where a term of this Agreement gives us a discretion, we will exercise it in the way that best supports your safety. (b) You should not have to repeat your story. Tell us once. With your consent, we will note on your account that you have told us you are affected by family or domestic violence, so that our staff can support you without asking you to explain again. You do not need to give us details of the violence, and we will not ask for them. (c) We will not demand proof as a barrier. We will act on what you tell us. We may ask for supporting information only where we genuinely need it for a specific decision, and we will accept a broad range of evidence, including a statement from a support worker, financial counsellor, health practitioner, police or a court. (d) Confidentiality. We will keep what you tell us confidential and handle it as sensitive information under our Privacy Policy in Section D. We will not disclose it to another person on your account, or to anyone else, except as you agree or the law requires. (e) No pressure about money while you are dealing with safety. If you tell us you are affected by family or domestic violence, we will place a hold on credit management, debt collection and disconnection for non-payment on your account for a reasonable period while we work out an arrangement with you, we will not refer the debt to a collection agency or sell it during that period, and we will consider waiving or reversing Charges you did not incur or agree to. Longer-term arrangements are dealt with under our Financial Hardship Policy in Section D. (f) Trained staff, and a single point of contact. Our customer-facing staff are trained to recognise and respond to family and domestic violence, to respond without judgement, and to escalate to a senior staff member who can make decisions. Where you ask, and where we reasonably can, we will give you one named contact so you are not starting again with each call. (g) Referral, not counselling. We are not a support service. With your agreement we will point you to specialist support — 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 is available 24 hours a day — and, if you are in immediate danger, we will encourage you to call Triple Zero (000).

You can raise this with us on 1300 994 884 or through the contact options at lightningip.com.au, and you can ask that we contact you only in a way and at a time that is safe for you.

Account authorities. If you tell us you are at risk, we will review who has access to your account and, at your request and to the extent we reasonably can:

(a) remove or suspend an authorised representative or additional account contact; (b) restrict access to your account information, call and usage records, and the address and payment details we hold, so that another person on the account cannot obtain them; (c) apply additional identity checks, or a password or passphrase you choose, before we discuss or change anything on your account; and (d) change how and where we contact you, including sending bills and notices to a different email address or postal address, and suppressing itemised usage details on a shared bill.

Where a Service or number is in another person's name, there are limits on what we can lawfully do without that person's authority. We will tell you clearly what we can and cannot do, and what your options are, rather than leaving you guessing.

Joint accounts and shared plans. Where you are one of two or more people responsible for an account, we will not treat a request from you to protect your safety as a breach of the Agreement. On request, we will work with you to:

(e) separate a Service or mobile number from a shared account into a new account in your own name, where the Service can technically be separated; (f) transfer a mobile number to you, or help you port it to another provider under the Transferring to or from another provider section of Section C; (g) apportion or transfer responsibility for outstanding Charges fairly between account holders, rather than pursuing you for the whole amount, having regard to who incurred the Charges and your circumstances; and (h) waive or reduce an early termination charge where you need to leave a Service or a shared account for safety reasons.

We will do this without telling the other account holder that you asked us to, except where we are legally required to notify them of a change to their own Service, and where that is unavoidable we will tell you first so you can plan for it.

If you are being contacted through a Service in a way that is threatening or offensive, tell us — the Life-threatening and unwelcome communications provisions of the applicable industry code (C525:2023) allow us and the relevant network operator to act, and we will explain the process to you.

If you are having trouble paying your bill, or you expect to, our Financial Hardship Policy in Section D is the place to start. It sets out how to apply, how quickly we will assess your application, the assistance options available — including payment extensions, payment plans, plan changes, restricting spend, and waiving or deferring late payment charges — and our commitments while an arrangement is in place, including that we will not suspend or cancel your Service for non-payment, or sell your debt, while you are meeting an agreed arrangement. Those commitments reflect the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.

This policy and the Financial Hardship Policy work together. Financial difficulty often arrives with something else — illness, family violence, disability, the loss of a job or the loss of a partner. You do not have to work out which policy applies. Tell us what is going on and we will apply whichever assistance fits, and we will consider your circumstances as a whole when we decide what to offer.

If you tell us you are affected by family or domestic violence, we will treat that as a possible indicator of financial hardship and offer you hardship assistance, without requiring you to make a separate application from scratch.

We can also refer you to a free, independent financial counsellor. The National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 is free and confidential.

If you are dealing with serious illness or injury, the death of a family member, a relationship breakdown, the loss of your home, a natural disaster or another significant life event, tell us and we will look at what we can do. Depending on your Service and circumstances, that may include:

(a) suspending your Service for an agreed period, and reducing or waiving Charges during the suspension where it is reasonable to do so; (b) moving you to a plan that better suits what you need and can afford, and waiving the usual plan change fee; (c) a payment extension or payment arrangement under our Financial Hardship Policy; (d) extra time to respond to a notice, return Equipment or complete a step we have asked you to take; (e) pausing credit management and non-essential contact for a reasonable period; and (f) where a customer has died, closing the account without an early termination charge, or transferring the Service to a surviving partner or the estate's representative, and dealing with the executor or next of kin with appropriate identification and without unnecessary formality.

A natural disaster affecting your area may also affect the networks we rely on. Where that happens, we will follow the Planned works, maintenance and outages and Faults and service assurance sections of Section C, and we will not charge you for a Service that we cannot supply because your premises is not able to be occupied.

We will confirm any arrangement with you in writing, in your preferred format, so you have a record of it.

You do not have to deal with us on your own. You can authorise someone to speak with us about your account, or to act for you, under the Letting someone else deal with us about your account section of Section A. That section explains the difference between:

(a) an authorised representative, who can make changes and enter into commitments on your behalf; (b) an advocate or nominated contact, who can raise and discuss matters with us but cannot change your Service; and (c) a person acting under a power of attorney, guardianship order or other legal authority, which we will act on when we have seen it.

We will deal with a financial counsellor, community legal service, community worker or family violence support worker acting for you once we have your authority, and we will accept a verbal authority on a call where you are present, so you are not held up by paperwork at a difficult time.

We will not require you to be present on every call, or to re-authorise the same person repeatedly, unless we have a genuine reason to check. You can change or withdraw an authority at any time by telling us, and we will action it promptly.

Where we reasonably believe someone is using an authority against your interests — including in a family or domestic violence context — we may suspend that authority, and we will tell you when we do.

To ask for help under this policy, contact us on 1300 994 884, by email, or through the contact options at lightningip.com.au — or through the National Relay Service or TIS National as described above. Someone can contact us for you. Tell us what support you need rather than which clause applies, and we will work out the rest.

We will acknowledge your request, tell you what we can do, and confirm any arrangement in writing in a format that works for you. If we cannot do what you have asked, we will tell you why and offer an alternative where one exists.

If we get it wrong — if we do not give you the support this policy describes, or we handle your circumstances poorly — please make a complaint. Our Complaints Handling Policy in Section D explains how to complain, what we will do, how long it will take and how to escalate. We handle complaints in accordance with the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018, and a complaint about the support we have provided under this policy will be treated as urgent where your safety, health or ability to call emergency services is affected.

External help. You can contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) at any time — it is a free and independent dispute resolution service, at tio.com.au or on 1800 062 058. We are a member of the TIO scheme as required under section 128 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.

Reviewing this policy. We review this policy at least annually, and whenever the law, an applicable industry code or standard, or our own practice changes. The current version is always published at lightningip.com.au, and we will give you a free copy on request in an accessible format.