Advice on getting an Australian phone number

If you’ve moved to Australia for an extended period of time – whether it’s for travel or work purposes – it’s likely that you’ll need an Australian phone number. Continuing to use your home mobile phone number on international roaming is costly. Whether you want to go on a pre-paid contract or are interested in phone plans, Australia offers a lot of variety to its mobile phone customers.


- Pre-paid or plan? Depending on your needs and preferences you can choose form pre or post-paid payment options. A pre-paid connection means that you buy an allocated amount of call, text and data time for your phone. Once that amount has been used, you will need to again pre-pay for your phone usage. With a plan, you use your phone and are then billed at the end of the month for the amount you use.



If you’re new to Australia, there are pros and cons in both pre-paid and plan connections. If you’re visiting Australia for a short time, pre-paid connections are easy to arrange and you are not locked into monthly payments or a contract. If you’re going to be in Australia for an extended period of time, then a post-paid plan makes more economical sense as call, text and internet usage rates are generally lower. Decide which connection suits your needs best.



- What do I need to get an Australian number? To obtain an Australian mobile phone number most carriers will require a passport and address in Australia. You will generally be required to sign a 12 or 24 month contract if you opt for a mobile phone plan, and thus will be asked for some sort of documentation to prove that you will are staying in Australia for the length of your contract. Residency cards and employment cards are two examples of such documentation.



- Phone locking. If you plan to use your handset in Australia, check before you leave your home country that your phone is not locked by your home carrier. If a phone is locked it means that it is restricted to use by one carrier. If locked, most phones can be unlocked for a small fee.


Whether you decide on a mobile phone plan or a pre-paid connection, there are a number of Australian carriers to choose from. It’s important to compare. Mobile phones, plans and pre-paid rates can vary, so it pays to do your research. There are also a number of websites that offer comparisons of mobile phones and phone plans, and are a valuable resource when deciding on which carrier and connection you want to use.


Australia’s main mobile phone networks are Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, 3 and Virgin Mobile. There are subtle differences between the plans offered by Telstra and Optus plans, for example, making it wise to research which carrier offers the best connection deal for you.