Australian area codes: the complete 02, 03, 07 and 08 guide
Who Called Australia editorial team · Updated: 31/08/2026
Australia runs one of the world's simplest geographic numbering plans: four area codes, each covering a giant slice of the country, each followed by an eight-digit local number. The code tells you the region at a glance — and the official register behind this site tells you the town-level numbering area and the carrier for every single range.
02 New South Wales & ACT03 Victoria & Tasmania07 Queensland08 SA, WA & the NT04 Mobiles — nationwide
The four codes
- 02 — Central East: New South Wales and the ACT. Sydney numbers typically start 02 8… and 02 9…, Canberra 02 6…, regional NSW 02 4… and 02 5….
- 03 — South East: Victoria and Tasmania. Melbourne dominates 03 8… and 03 9…, Hobart sits in 03 6…, regional Victoria in 03 4… and 03 5….
- 07 — North East: Queensland. Brisbane holds 07 3…, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast much of 07 5…, tropical Queensland 07 4….
- 08 — Central & West: South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Adelaide answers on 08 7… and 08 8…, Perth on 08 6… and 08 9…, Darwin on 08 89….
How to read a landline like a register entry
Take (02) 6205 xxxx. The code says NSW/ACT; the register's numbering area for the 62 range says Canberra; and the range entry names the carrier the block is allocated to. Our numbering areas cataloguelists every town-level area with its carriers and block samples — from capital-city zones with hundreds of ranges down to outback areas with a single Telstra block. That's the same data our reverse lookup resolves for any specific number.
The code doesn't prove the caller's location
Two honest caveats. First, number portability: a business can keep its 02 number after moving states, and VoIP services hand out numbers from any area. Second, spoofing: scam operations deliberately display numbers matching your area because a local-looking call gets answered. A landline number is a strong hint about a legitimate caller's region — it is not evidence about a suspicious one.
Browse the full catalogue: area codes and mobile prefixes · all numbering areas · carriers.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Australia only have four area codes?
The late-1990s renumbering collapsed dozens of short regional codes into four two-digit codes with eight-digit local numbers: 02 (NSW/ACT), 03 (VIC/TAS), 07 (QLD) and 08 (SA/WA/NT). Each code holds 100 million numbers, which removed the constant renumbering of the old plan.
Do area codes follow state borders exactly?
Not quite. Codes follow the network's charging districts, not political borders. Broken Hill in far-west NSW uses 08 with South Australia, and some border towns along the Murray share codes across the river. The town-level numbering area in the register is more precise than the code.
A landline from my own suburb called me — is it really local?
Not necessarily. VoIP providers can issue numbers from any numbering area, and scammers deliberately pick local-looking numbers because people answer them. The register tells you which carrier holds the range; the community reports tell you how the number behaves.
Do I still need the area code when dialling locally?
Within the same code you can drop it from a landline (dialling 9876 5432 inside 02), but mobiles always require the full ten digits. Storing numbers in full national format — or international +61 format — avoids every edge case.