Under section 88(3) of the National Credit Code a default notice must specify the information prescribed by the regulations about the debtor’s right to request changes on the grounds of hardship (under section 72) or the postponement of enforcement proceedings (under section 94).

The debtor’s rights under section 72 and section 94 do not apply to a credit contract made on or after 1 July 2010 in respect of which the maximum amount of credit that is or may be provided is more than $500,000.

For contracts made before 1 July 2010 the hardship threshold is a floating threshold based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) index of the cost of new houses in New South Wales plus 10%. The figure is published on the ASIC website here.

Even if a debtor’s credit amount exceeds the threshold, a credit provider might still agree to vary the contract terms if the debtor is having difficulty making repayments.