



One payment method on the front of the notice was the biggest driver of adoption.
Moving Payble to the front of the rate notice, on its own, was the most impactful change of the rollout.

Six channels, one destination.
Letters, a flyer, the website, Facebook, drop-in sessions and a published copy of the notice all pointed to the same page.

The five-star ratings were never the useful part.
Robert Hay reads the ratings below three stars every week. That's how one ratepayer's technical issue got fixed for everyone.

Robert Hay is Principal Coordinator Rates at The Hills Shire Council, with nearly 40 years in local government, including roles at other Sydney metropolitan councils and involvement with the NSW Revenue Professionals.
Only 12–14% of Whitehorse's animals were registered under the old paper-based renewal process. See how self-service QR renewals, auto-reconciliation and set-and-forget payments turned that around in a single renewal cycle — and what it freed up for staff.

Hutt City managed rates the same way for 25+ years. Arrears hit 5%. Direct debit stalled at 44%. Then they went live with Payble - and processed $5.5M across 21,354 plans without staff loading a single one.

Rate caps are rising at half the pace of inflation, infrastructure costs haven't dropped since COVID, and arrears are compounding. In this roundtable, council leaders unpack the four federal budget measures squeezing local government and the four levers councils can act on now to protect cash flow and financial sustainability.
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