To make an international call from Australia, dial 0011, then the country code, then the number with its leading 0 removed. On a mobile you can press + instead of 0011, which also works when you are travelling. So a London number written as 020 xxxx xxxx becomes 0011 44 20 xxxx xxxx from a landline, or +44 20 xxxx xxxx from a mobile.

The rest of this guide covers the Italy exception to the zero rule, codes and prices for 15 common destinations, what Telstra, Optus and Vodafone already include, and what to check when a call will not connect.

The dialling sequence, step by step

Step	What you dial	Example: a mobile in India written as 098xxx xxxxx
1. Exit code	0011 from a landline, or + on a mobile	+
2. Country code	The destination's code	91
3. Number	The local number without its trunk 0	98xxx xxxxx
Result		+91 98xxx xxxxx

To get the + sign on a mobile keypad, press and hold the 0 key until + appears. Vodafone's guide to calling overseas confirms both forms: 0011 or + on a mobile, and drop the 0 if the area code or number starts with one.

Use + whenever you save overseas contacts in your phone. A contact stored as +44 7xxx xxxxxx dials correctly from Australia and from any other country, so it still works if you take your phone on holiday. A contact stored as 0011 44 only works while you are in Australia.

Calling the US or Canada

Both use country code 1, and their numbers have no trunk 0 to drop. A New York number written as (212) xxx-xxxx becomes 0011 1 212 xxx xxxx, or +1 212 xxx xxxx.

The trunk zero rule, and the Italy exception

Most countries put a 0 in front of their area codes and mobile numbers for domestic calls, exactly like Australia's 02, 03, 04 and so on. That 0 is a trunk prefix. It only means "this is a call inside the country", so it is never dialled from abroad.

Country	How locals write it	How you dial it from Australia
UK landline	020 xxxx xxxx	+44 20 xxxx xxxx
UK mobile	07xxx xxxxxx	+44 7xxx xxxxxx
New Zealand (Auckland)	09 xxx xxxx	+64 9 xxx xxxx
Philippines mobile	09xx xxx xxxx	+63 9xx xxx xxxx
Greece mobile	69x xxx xxxx (no trunk 0)	+30 69x xxx xxxx
Italy landline (Rome)	06 xxxx xxxx	+39 06 xxxx xxxx (keep the 0)

Italy is the one people get wrong. Italian landline numbers keep their leading 0 when dialled from overseas, so a Rome number is +39 06 and a Milan number is +39 02. Italian mobiles start with 3 and have no 0 to worry about. If an Italian landline call fails with the 0 removed, put it back.

Greece, Spain and Portugal have no trunk 0 at all, so you dial their numbers exactly as written after the country code.

Country codes and call rates for 15 common destinations

The list covers countries with large communities in Australia (India, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Lebanon, Greece, Italy and Sri Lanka), plus the UK, New Zealand, the US and a few regular business destinations. The carrier zones are from Telstra's and Vodafone's own pages, checked in October 2026.

BoraPhone rates are in US dollars per minute at the time of writing (October 2026), billed per minute and rounded up to the next full minute. They change, so check the full rates list for the live price before you call. The last column is the honest part: on several of these routes, your Australian mobile plan or a carrier pack is the cheaper choice.

Destination	Code	BoraPhone to landline	BoraPhone to mobile	Cheapest option for regular calls
India	+91	US$0.11	US$0.11	Often your plan: India is in Telstra Zone 1 and Vodafone Zone 1
United Kingdom	+44	US$0.04	US$0.07	BoraPhone for occasional calls; a Zone 1 pack if you call for hours
New Zealand	+64	US$0.07	US$0.19	In Telstra Zone 1 and Vodafone Zone 1; see our NZ guide
China	+86	US$0.72	US$0.76	Not BoraPhone: a Telstra Zone 1 pack or Vodafone Zone 1 plan is far cheaper
Philippines	+63	US$0.46	US$0.65	Not BoraPhone for regular calls: Telstra or Vodafone Zone 2 minutes, or an app
Vietnam	+84	US$0.40	US$0.40	Not BoraPhone: Telstra's A$10 Zone 1 pack includes Vietnam (Vodafone has it in Zone 2)
United States	+1	from US$0.04	shown in the dialer	In Telstra Zone 1 and Vodafone Zone 1; BoraPhone for one-off calls
Italy	+39	US$0.04	US$0.10	Included on Vodafone Zone 1 plans; otherwise BoraPhone (Telstra has Italy in Zone 2 only)
Greece	+30	US$0.05	US$0.17	Zone 2 on both Telstra and Vodafone, so BoraPhone is cheap for landlines
Lebanon	+961	US$0.37	US$0.82	Not BoraPhone for mobiles: WhatsApp, or Telstra or Vodafone Zone 2 minutes
Malaysia	+60	US$0.13	US$0.18	Telstra Zone 1 pack or Vodafone Zone 1 plans first
Hong Kong	+852	US$0.10	US$0.13	Telstra Zone 1 pack or Vodafone Zone 1 plans first
South Korea	+82	US$0.12	US$0.12	Telstra Zone 1 pack or Vodafone Zone 1 plans first
Germany	+49	US$0.07	US$0.10	Plan inclusions, or BoraPhone for occasional calls
Sri Lanka	+94	US$0.64	US$0.64	Not BoraPhone: Zone 2 minutes on Telstra or Vodafone, an app or a calling card

If your plan already includes a country, a call costs you nothing extra, and nothing beats that. Paying per minute makes sense for the countries your plan leaves out (Greece and France are in neither carrier's Zone 1, and Italy is missing from Telstra's), for calls from a laptop or a phone with no Australian SIM, and for landlines in countries with cheap landline rates. For China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, the rates above are not the cheapest way to call regularly, so use a pack, your plan's zone minutes or an app instead.

What Telstra, Optus and Vodafone include (October 2026)

Before you pay for anything, check what your plan already gives you. As of October 2026:

Telstra. Telstra says its newer Upfront mobile plans include 30 minutes a month of standard international calls from Australia to all destinations. Beyond that, it sells three International Calling Packs: Zone 1 at A$10 a month (unlimited standard calls to 23 destinations, including India, China, Vietnam, the UK, New Zealand and the US), Zone 2 at A$20 (adds 200 minutes to 45 more destinations) and Zone 3 at A$30 (200 minutes to 99 destinations), per Telstra's International Calling Packs page. Each higher pack keeps the Zone 1 unlimited calls. Italy, Greece, the Philippines, Lebanon and Sri Lanka are all in Zone 2. Our Telstra guide lists the zones in full.

Vodafone. Vodafone says selected Infinite, Plus and SIM Only Plus plans include unlimited standard international minutes to its Zone 1 countries, and up to 300 minutes to Zone 2 countries. Zone 1 is a long list that includes India, China, Italy, Germany, the UK, the US, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea, according to Vodafone's international calls page. Greece, Vietnam, the Philippines, Lebanon and Sri Lanka are in Zone 2. Some Prepaid Plus recharges also include Zone 1 minutes.

Optus. Some Optus postpaid plans include standard international calls to a list of selected countries, and Optus sells international add-ons for other plans and destinations. We could not load Optus's plan or add-on pages while writing this, so check your plan's country list and the add-on prices in the My Optus app. Our Optus guide goes through the options.

Two pieces of fine print apply to all three. First, inclusions cover calls to standard numbers, not premium, satellite or special numbers. Second, Telstra and Vodafone describe them as calls made from Australia, so do not expect them to cover calls you make while roaming overseas. Those follow your roaming rules instead. If you are on a smaller provider or a prepaid plan with no inclusions, our guide to international call plans in Australia compares the options.

A worked example: what 10 minutes actually costs

Say you call your sister's mobile in Manchester once a fortnight for 10 minutes, and once a month you ring a hotel in Rome to sort out a booking.

On a newer Telstra Upfront plan with no pack: the first 30 international minutes each month are included. Two 10-minute UK calls plus a short call to Rome fit inside that. Cost: nothing extra.
On a plan with no international inclusions: you either buy a pack for the month or pay per call. Paying per minute at the rates in the table above, the two UK mobile calls cost US$0.70 each and a 5-minute call to a Rome landline costs US$0.20, so US$1.60 for the month.
If you call a UK mobile for an hour every day: that is about 1,800 minutes a month, or roughly US$126 at US$0.07 a minute. An A$10 Telstra Zone 1 pack, or a Vodafone plan with Zone 1 included, wins easily.

The pattern holds for most routes. Heavy, regular calls to one included country favour a pack. Occasional calls, calls to countries your plan leaves out, and calls from a computer favour paying per minute.

Calling from a laptop, or without an Australian SIM

You do not need a mobile plan at all to call overseas numbers. BoraPhone runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox on a laptop, tablet or phone, with no app to install and no SIM. You top up from US$5, see the rate before each call, and pay per minute. The first call is free, and failed calls are refunded in full. It is useful if you are on a work laptop, if your phone has international calls barred, or if you are visiting Australia on a foreign SIM and do not want to pay roaming rates to call home.

For people who use the same app, WhatsApp, FaceTime and Signal calls over WiFi are free and are the best choice for long chats. Paid calls matter when you need to reach a landline, a business, a government office or a relative who is not on those apps.

When the call will not connect

If you dial correctly and still hear a recorded message or nothing at all, work through these in order:

International calling is barred on your service. Many prepaid and some postpaid services ship with international calls blocked, or a business account may block them. Check your provider's app or call them to lift the restriction.
The number format is wrong. Look for a leftover trunk 0 after the country code (except Italy), or a doubled exit code such as +0011.
Your iPhone is rewriting the number. Some iPhones show a Dial Assist switch in the Phone settings (Settings, then Apps, then Phone on recent iOS versions), which adds prefixes automatically. If calls fail, turn it off and type the full number with + yourself.
The number is a premium or special service. Inclusions and packs exclude these, and many cannot be reached from abroad at all.
The destination restricts internet calls. If you use an app or browser service, some countries block or degrade internet calling. Test with a short call first.

Frequently asked questions

Is 0011 the international dialling code for Australia?

Yes. 0011 is Australia's international access code, also called the exit code. You dial it before the country code on a landline. On a mobile you can use + instead, which your network converts automatically.

How do I make an international call from my mobile?

Press and hold 0 until + appears, then type the country code and the number without its leading 0. For example, +44 7xxx xxxxxx for a UK mobile. Using + also means the contact works when you travel.

How can I make free international calls from Australia?

App-to-app calls on WhatsApp, FaceTime, Messenger or Signal are free over WiFi when both people use the same app. Calls to ordinary phone numbers are only free if your plan includes the country, such as Telstra's 30 included minutes on its newer Upfront plans or Vodafone's Zone 1 inclusions. Otherwise you pay per minute or buy a pack.

Why won't my iPhone let me make international calls?

The usual cause is a restriction on your account, so check with your provider first. Then check the number format and try typing it with + rather than picking it from an old contact. If your iPhone shows Dial Assist in its Phone settings, switch it off and dial the full number with + yourself.

What is the cheapest way to call India from Australia?

If your plan includes India, use those minutes: it is in Telstra's Zone 1 and Vodafone's Zone 1. If it does not, pay-per-minute services cost around US$0.11 a minute to Indian mobiles and landlines at the time of writing. For hours of calls every month, Telstra's A$10 Zone 1 pack is cheaper.

How to Make International Calls from Australia: 0011, + and Costs