Paying your rates

Online – use a credit card to pay online
Phone – call our 24-hour phone hotline on 1300 301 185 and pay by Mastercard or Visa
BPay banking – quote Biller Code 5157 and the reference number on your Rates Notice, to pay from your bank account, Mastercard or Visa
Direct debit – by application only, pay from a nominated bank account in monthly instalments, quarterly instalments or a lump sum.

To update your banking information with us, download and complete a Direction Debit Application Form below.

Use a credit card to pay online

Australia Post - over the counter by cash, EFTPOS, cheque, Mastercard or Visa credit card, phone 13 18 16 and pay by Mastercard or Visa or visit the Australia Post website and pay by Mastercard or Visa

Make a payment via the Australia Post website

By mail - attach the payment slip of your Rates Notice to your cheque (crossed not-negotiable) or money order and mail to:

City of Whittlesea
PO Box 2002
Preston VIC 3072

Receipts

You will only receive a receipt if you pay in person at our offices or your local post office.

Payment arrangement

If you are having difficulty paying your rates, you can request a payment arrangement by contacting our recovery agency, Recoveries & Reconstructions Pty Ltd (R&R)

phone 1300 556 863
email- accounts@r-r.com.au
visit the R & R website

Financial hardship

If you are seeking financial counselling, phone Kildonan Uniting Care on 8401 0100 or visit the Kildonan Uniting Care website. Alternatively call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 or visit https://ndh.org.au/ for professional financial counselling support

COVID-19 Hardship Policy

The COVID-19 Financial Hardship Policy provides relief to residents and businesses in the City of Whittlesea who are unable to meet their payment obligations to Council because of the adverse effects of the pandemic.

If you are having difficulty paying your residential or commercial rates, we can help you apply for a payment plan. If you are experiencing serious hardship, we will consider applications to defer rates during the pandemic, without incurring interest until 30 September 2021.

Read more about the policy and application process here.

Pensioner concessions

If you hold a current Pension Concession Card, Veteran’s Affairs TPI or War Widow Gold Card, and live at the property shown on the Rates Notice, you may be eligible for a concession.

Full details about the concession can be found on the Department of Human Services website.

Note: Health Care Card holders are not eligible for a rates concession.

The maximum rates concession for 2020/2021 is $241.00. An additional concession of $50 is also available on the State Fire Services Levy.

To apply for a concession, do the following:

Find out more about the Pension Concession Card

Receiving your rates notice

We post the annual rates notices to all property owners during July.

If you have just moved into your newly constructed home, we will automatically send you an updated rates notice.

Find out how you can estimate your new rates amount after a supplementary valuation.

Quarterly instalment rate notices are posted in early November, February and May.

Receive your rates notice online

You can receive your rates notice online through your internet banking provider, using BPAY View.

By using BPAY View, you can conveniently and securely receive, pay and store your rates notices online.

How to register for BPAY View:

Register for internet banking with your bank.
Log into your internet banking account.
Look for the BPAY View or View Bills section.
Register to receive your Council rates notice by entering:
The Biller Code: 5157
Your BPAY View registration number: (Use your BPAY REF No from the bottom of your rates notice)
Your surname: your surname exactly as it is shown on your rates notice.

Your next rate notice will be automatically sent to your internet banking account.

Pay in instalments or lump sum

To better manage your household budget you can choose to pay your rates in:

Quarterly instalments
Monthly instalments – by application only (applications closed 31 August 2020)
Fortnightly instalments – by application only (applications closed 31 August 2020)
Lump sum

If you don't pay on time, you may pay penalty interest charges (state law sets this at a yearly rate of 10 per cent).

Quarterly instalments

When you make payment of the first quarterly instalment by the due date, you will receive a reminder notice for each of the remaining three instalments.

If full payment of the first instalment is not received by the due date, your account will revert to the lump sum option (shown below) and you will not receive reminder notices for each of the remaining three instalments.

Monthly instalments – by application only

You can pay your rates in 9 monthly instalments by submitting an application to Council between July and August each year.

We do not post a separate rate notice for each monthly instalment.

Fortnightly instalments – by application only

You can pay your rates in 18 fortnightly instalments by submitting an application to Council between July and August each year, as long as you do not have any overdue rates and charges.

We do not post a separate rate notice for each fortnightly instalment.