Australia's Calling Code - How to call Australia easily

The Land Down Under is a popular destination for tourists from all over the world, as well as expats. With bustling cities and stunning natural scenery, from the beautiful beaches and natural gems of the gold coast to Sydneys coffee shops and opera house. iIt’s no wonder people are flocking to Australia. But what if you need to get ahold of one of them? How do you call an Aussie? Read on to find out how to place a call to the Land Down Under.

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How do I call Australia?

Every country in the world has a different country code that must be dialed before a local phone number. Without them, phone numbers would have to be far too long for people to memorize, simply so there could be enough phone numbers for everyone in the world.

• Australia’s country code is +61.
• +672 is used for Australian territories, including Norfolk Island and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Are there other codes in Australia I need to be aware of?

Australia has a handful of area codes that you must dial to reach certain regions of the country.

• 02: Central East Australia, including Sydney and Canberra
• 03: South East Australia, including Melbourne and Hobart
• 07: North East Australia, including Brisbane
• 08: Central and West Australia, including Perth, Adelaide and Darwin

Australia also has an area code for all mobile phones. To call a mobile phone from Australia, you must dial the country code, followed by 04 and the mobile phone number.

When calling from outside Australia, leave off the “0” in the area code.

For example, if calling a mobile phone from outside Australia, you would dial +61 4 and the 8-digit mobile number.

An example of an Australian phone number

If you see: (02) 3456 7890, then dial +61 2 3456 7890.

Calling Australia from a landline

When calling a foreign country from a landline, you won’t be able to dial the “+” before the country code, so you use an international call prefix instead. These vary depending on where you’re calling from, but some of the most common are:

For a full list of international call prefixes, click here.

Why did my call to Australia not work?

If your call to Australia isn’t going through, troubleshoot with these tips:

• Make sure the local number you’re dialing is correct.
• Make sure you’re using the correct dialing format (your country’s exit code, Australia’s country code, the area code, then the local number)
• Make sure you leave off the “0” in the area code if you’re calling from outside Australia.

Another way to make a call to Australia is to use an app, like Whatsapp or Skype. Whatsapp offers free calls, and Skype allows you to pre-load the app with credits for making international calls (calls via the app to another Skype user are free).

Do phone numbers in Australia usually have voicemail boxes?

Australian landlines don’t have built-in voicemail boxes. However, in 2017, more and more Australians are trading their landlines for mobile phones, which typically do have voicemail boxes. Sometimes they're personalized by the user, and sometimes they use a generic message. That’s entirely up to the phone owner.

What does the ringing tone sound like when you call Australia?

If you live in the United States, Australia’s ringing tone and busy signal won’t sound too different to you. The dial tone, however, may throw you off at first.

Australia’s dial tone sounds similar to a ringing tone, but is one long, continuous tone. After you successfully dial a number, the ringing tone will sound exactly the same, but in sets of two short bursts of sound.

If you hear alternating beeping noises (one loud followed by one softer followed by one loud, etc., etc.), it means there was an error placing your call. You’ll need to hang up and try dialing again. If you hear continuous beeping noises with consistent volume, the number you’ve dialed is busy. You can try calling that number again later.

If you don’t dial the number correctly, you may get a recorded message saying, “Your call could not be connected. Please check the number, and try again.”

You can often hear each of these sounds in a video by searching youtube.

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Calling foreign countries can be tricky until you get the hang of it. But with this guide in hand, your cross-country communication should hopefully seem a little more simple.