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Life Without Debt Ltd launches as a public benevolent institution offering casework to Australians facing terminal, life-limiting, chronic or serious illness.
[CITY, AUSTRALIA · release date] — Life Without Debt Ltd, a new Australian charity dedicated to resolving consumer debt for people living with serious illness, has today been endorsed by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as a Public Benevolent Institution and by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR).
The charity, founded by Laurence Hugo, addresses a gap that has grown quietly in Australia over the past decade: the intersection of serious illness and consumer debt. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Australians receive a diagnosis of terminal, life-limiting, chronic or serious illness. A significant proportion of them are carrying consumer debt — credit cards, personal loans, buy-now-pay-later stacks, telco and utility arrears — at the moment of diagnosis. In the months and years that follow, this debt does not go away. Life Without Debt exists to take that particular burden off them.
"Nobody plans to be seriously ill and in debt at the same time," said Laurence Hugo, co-founder of Life Without Debt. "But it happens to a lot of people, quietly, in every part of Australia. Our job is to give those people and their families a competent, free, respectful service that resolves the debt while they focus on what matters most."
Free at the point of use. Service is delivered as casework: an intake conversation, a full picture of the person's consumer debt, a written plan the person consents to, and then direct negotiation with creditors on the person's behalf until the debts are resolved. There is no cost to the beneficiary or their family. Service is available Australia-wide, with referrals accepted from GPs, palliative care nurses, oncology social workers, hospital discharge planners, and disease-specific bodies.
Who is eligible. The charity's paramount beneficiaries — defined in its constitution — are Australians living with a terminal, life-limiting, chronic or serious illness, plus their immediate families and primary carers. Life Without Debt does not act on business debt, mortgage debt, or tax debt; it focuses exclusively on the consumer-debt burden that sits alongside serious illness.
How to reach the charity. People seeking help, or their carers, can visit cosailifewithoutdebt.org/intake to start a confidential intake conversation. Health professionals wishing to refer patients should visit cosailifewithoutdebt.org/referrer-pack.
Governance. Life Without Debt is a company limited by guarantee, endorsed by the ACNC as a Public Benevolent Institution and by the ATO as a Deductible Gift Recipient. It will publish audited financial statements from its first year of operation, alongside an Annual Impact Report against a methodology adopted before the first beneficiary was served (see cosailifewithoutdebt.org/impact-reporting-template). ACN: [pending] · ABN: [pending] · ACNC number: [pending].
How to support the work. One-off donations, monthly giving, gifts in wills, corporate partnerships, and grants are all supported. Visit cosailifewithoutdebt.org/donate for an overview, or /major-donor for major-gift enquiries.
Notes to editors
Media contact: media@cosailifewithoutdebt.org
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