1300, 1800 and 13 numbers explained: who's calling and what it costs

Who Called Australia editorial team · Updated: 31/08/2026

Three families of "business numbers" dominate Australian caller IDs: six-digit 13 numbers, ten-digit 1300 numbers (both local rate) and ten-digit 1800freephone numbers. They aren't tied to any place — the same number can answer in Sydney today and Manila tonight — and they're bought, sold and auctioned as smartnumbers. Here's what each one costs, who's behind them, and when a smartnumber on your screen should make you suspicious.

The three families at a glance

• 13 xx xx — six digits, local-call rate. The scarcest and most prestigious range: banks, airlines, insurers, government services. Because only 10,000 such numbers can exist, the ACMA auctions them and annual government charges apply.
• 1300 xxx xxx — ten digits, local-call rate from landlines, generally included in mobile plans. The workhorse business number: hundreds of thousands are allocated.
• 1800 xxx xxx — ten digits, free for the caller from both landlines and mobiles (since 2015). The business pays for the call — which is why 1800 lines exist for inbound service and why an 1800 number aggressively calling you deserves a second look.

Who actually owns a smartnumber?

Two layers. The ACMA allocates the right of use to a business — often via the smartnumbers auction, where memorable patterns and phonewords go to the highest bidder. The business then has the number hosted by a carrier, and it's the carrier that appears in the numbering register. That's why our lookup shows, say, Telstra as the holder of an 1800 number even though the voice answering it belongs to a charity: the register names the network, and for many individually-allocated smartnumbers also the client the number is dedicated to. Every allocation with its date is on the number's page.

When a smartnumber is a red flag

Scammers love 1300 and 1800 caller IDs precisely because they look institutional. Spoofing the displaycosts them nothing: your phone shows a real bank's 13 number while the call comes from an overseas VoIP rack. The rule is the same as always: the display is a claim, not proof. If "your bank" calls from its official number and asks for codes, passwords or a transfer to a "safe account", hang up and dial the number on the back of your card yourself. Check the number's page here first — spoofed institutional numbers accumulate community reports fast.

Calling from overseas

13/1300/1800 numbers generally can't be dialled from outside Australia (some carriers route +61 13 forms, at international rates, if the holder enables it). If a business gives you only a 13 number and you're abroad, look for their geographic alternative — reputable organisations publish one.

Check any smartnumber against the register on its page — e.g. search it on the homepage — and see the full cost table for every family including 190x premium.