MEDIA RELEASE
17 September 2026
308 families, 1,500 conversations: Bring Your Bills debut delivers real benefit for South Auckland households.
Auckland, 17 September 2026 - New Zealand's first Bring Your Bills event has been declared a success, with final numbers showing that 308 families turned up to Ōtāhuhu Town Hall, undertaking more than 1,500 conversations centred on practical financial support. Telecommunications companies, energy retailers and banks were all on hand to help - prompting organisers to plan a wider rollout of the event across New Zealand's main centres and regions in 2027.
Held on 26 August, the event was brought together by DebtManagers and Māngere Budgeting Services Trust (MBST), with partners including ASB, Kiwibank, Spark, One NZ, 2degrees, Contact Energy, Mercury Energy, Watercare, the Electricity Authority, along with many others. Rather than families having to phone each organisation separately, they could bring their household bills to one room and work through them face to face, table by table, with food, prizes and financial mentors on hand throughout the evening.
The turnout reflects the scale of financial pressure facing South Auckland households. MBST - who supported over 4,000 families through financial mentoring and helped feed more than 15,000 people through its food assistance programme last financial year - has long argued that the earlier families can talk to their creditors, the easier their debt is to manage. That's also the philosophy behind DebtManagers' own approach to hardship: that real conversations are what help stop manageable debt turning into something families struggle to recover from.
"Bring Your Bills has worked well in Australia for years, but seeing it land in Ōtāhuhu and have this kind of turnout confirmed what we thought - that families want help with their bills, they just need us to make it as simple as possible." says Malcolm Phillipps, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement at DebtManagers.
MBST Chief Executive Lara Dolan says the night showed what's possible when services come to the community rather than the other way around. "This event was about removing barriers and making support easier to access, and 1,500 conversations in one evening shows us what a difference we can make. We saw families walk out with bills resolved, financial mentoring support in place, and in some cases just relief at being heard."
Buoyed by the response, DebtManagers is now planning further Bring Your Bills events through 2027, extending the model beyond South Auckland to other main centres and regional communities, with further partners and locations to be confirmed.
ENDS
About DebtManagers
DebtManagers is New Zealand’s leading purchaser of difficult debt. The company’s mission is to create a fairer financial world where everyone can thrive. It specialises in socially responsible debt management, helping rehabilitate people through fairer repayment plans, flexible payment arrangements, and customer-centred support, with no added fees or excessive interest.
About Māngere Budgeting Services Trust
Māngere Budgeting Services Trust supports South Auckland families through free financial mentoring, budgeting advice and food assistance, helping thousands of households build financial resilience each year.
