The country code for international calls to Australia is +61. When dialing from overseas, omit any leading '0' in the area code.
For example, the local number for the Broken Hill tourist information is 8080 3300. The area code is 08 as Broken Hill is in the Central & West area code region. To dial the number from Adelaide or anywhere else inside the same area code region you can optionally omit the area code, and just dial 8080 3300. To dial the number from Sydney or anywhere in Australia outside the area code region, you will need to dial 08 8080 3300. If you don't know your area code region, you can still dial the area code, and it will still work. To dial the number from overseas you will need to dial your local international access code (00 for most of Europe or 011 in the USA and Canada) and then dial 61 8 8080 3300, that is drop the leading '0' from the area code.
There can be many ways of writing the same number, as people try to present the number from the caller's perspective.
+61 8 8080 3300
+61880803300
+61 (0)8 8080 3300,
(61 8) 8080 3300,
(08) 8080 3300,
61 8 8080 3300
8080 3300
are all the same number, and the same rules apply. If you are dialing within Australia the area code must begin with a '0'. If you are dialing internationally, there is no leading '0'.
Australian Area Code List:
02 = Central East (New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and north-eastern fringe of Victoria)
03 = South East (Southern NSW, Victoria and Tasmania)
04 = Mobile phones Australia-wide (higher call charges apply).
07 = North East (Queensland)
08 = Central & West (Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and far Western New South Wales)
The outgoing international dialing access code (from within Australia) is 0011 (note, "00" and "011", common elsewhere in the world, will not work in Australia).
Local calls are about AUD$0.25 on most fixed lines and AUD$0.50 on all Telstra Pay Phones.
If calling an Australian number from a mobile phone outside Australia it is best to use the format +61880803300 with no spaces and no (0) prefixes included.
If making an international call from your mobile phone from within Australia use the '+' followed by the country code, followed by destination area code, followed by the local number at the destination. Omit all leading '0' prefixes and do not include any spaces.
If dialling from a mobile telephone in Australia it is not necesssary to use an international dialling prefix (such as 0011). The '+' symbol followed by the destination country code is all that is needed to access the international telephone system from your handset.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Australia
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Australia - updated Apr 2024
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Australia Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
