Practical Information

Pay phones are located on nearly every street corner in Melbourne, so finding one should not be difficult. Pay phones accept either coins or locally purchased Phone Cards; some accept both. Phone cards have stored value of various denominations, and can be purchased at newsagents, kiosks, or any place that displays the Telstra sign.

Local calls are $0.40 and are untimed. For long-distance calls, they can be dialed directly using the prefix 0011 then the country code followed by the area code and the local number with costs varying from country to country. Area codes are listed in the white pages of local telephone directories. There are three basic calling periods, and charges correspond to the period during which you call. Day Period is 8am-6pm weekdays, Night Period is 6pm-8am weekdays, and Economy Period is 8pm-8am weekdays, and 8pm Friday to 8am Monday. Check with the operator for more information on long distance rates.

If you're making a call to a mobile phone in Australia, you pay based on the time you spend talking. So if you are using a public telephone to call a mobile phone, make sure you have enough coins on you or that your calling card has enough money in it.

• The country code for Australia is 61
• The city code for Melbourne is 03
• Directory Inquiries 013
• International Directory Inquiries 1225
• Operator 1234
• International dialling code 0011
• For dialing into Melbourne from an overseas country: International dialling code + 61 + 3 + Local Number
• For dialing to an overseas country from Melbourne: 0011 + Country Code + Area Code + Local Number