Numbers commencing with 13 are charged at a local call rate, and what they connect you to can vary according to your location. They can be 10 or 6 digit numbers. For example 1300 796 222, will connect you with the Albury tourist information, no matter where you are in Australia. However, 131 008 will connect you with a different local taxi service depending on where you are. 13 22 32 will connect you to New South Wales Railways in Sydney or Victorian Railways in Melbourne. Calling these numbers internationally can be problematic.
Numbers commencing with 18 are free when dialed from a payphone or fixed phone, and commonly used for hotel reservation numbers, or tourist information numbers.
Numbers commencing with 19 are premium numbers, often with very hefty call charges (make sure you check before dialing).
Numbers commencing with 12 are carrier services, and are dependent on what network you are connected to. For example 12 456 is a general information number for Telstra. Vodafone offer a similar services on 123. These numbers can be premium services as well.
Calling special numbers internationally can often work - just try dialing the number prefixed with the +61 country code. Many locations will give an alternative direct number for use in international dialing. You can use the non-geographical number search on e164.org.au to look up a normal number from a 13 or 18 number.
You may make reverse charge calls by using the number 1800 REVERSE (1800 7383773).
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.
