Campbelltown rates can already be paid weekly or fortnightly, and Council is buying a platform to smooth them

A Menangle Park household can already have its rates debited weekly or fortnightly. Council’s payment methods page, read on 20 September 2026, offers direct debit “weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly”, applied for online for a bank account or on a form for a credit card. What Council decided on 8 September was to procure, without going to tender, software that automates it.

What Council resolved

Item 8.10 carried fourteen votes to nil, with one councillor on leave of absence, as resolution 242/2026. It approved an exemption from the tendering requirements under section 55(3)(i) of the Local Government Act 1993, and authorised the chief executive “to finalise negotiations and enter into a contract for the rate smoothing payment platform” under delegated authority.

The officer’s report says its purpose is “to seek Council’s approval of an exemption from the tendering requirements and to enter into an agreement with Payble Pty Ltd”. The resolution itself does not name the supplier, and it authorises a contract rather than recording one.

Council’s stated reason for skipping a tender is that no alternative meets its “material functional, technical, banking (direct NAB settlement) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements in an equivalent form”. Rival platforms, the report says, route ratepayer money through the vendor’s own merchant facility rather than settling into Council’s NAB accounts, and do not integrate natively with the rating system.

What would change

The report puts the existing service and its friction in one sentence: “While payment smoothing and direct debit options are available, the current process relies heavily on forms, manual administration and staff intervention.” It lists the platform’s intended gains as a better payment experience, higher direct debit uptake, less manual administration, “improved arrears recovery” and earlier, more regular payments. Costs “can be accommodated within existing budget allocations”, within Council’s approved Digital Strategy budget: no new money, and no rates impact stated.

The papers give no start date, no price and no sign-up method for the new platform. Until one exists, the route is the direct debit Council already publishes, or the quarterly instalment dates in rates, bins and council.