Sunset at the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. Several limestone rock formations just offshore in the ocean, with an orange sunset glow in the background.
| |

Buying a SIM Card or eSIM in Australia

We may earn a commission from purchases you make after clicking links on this site. Learn more.

Long hot summer days, golden beaches, world-class surfing, delicious brunches, and more, there are plenty of reasons why Australia sees over eight million visitors each year.

All those suntans and flat whites come at a cost, however. The country is expensive to get to, and far from cheap to spend time in. For years that high cost extended to staying connected, but competition has driven down prices in recent years.

It’s now reasonably cheap and easy to get a local SIM card Down Under, at least if you choose the right provider.

Activating a SIM card in Australia, whether you do it in person or online, requires you to provide ID (typically a passport for overseas visitors) and provide a local address.

Some companies make this process more onerous than others: Aldi, for instance, also requires you to have a Visa or Mastercard-branded card and the ability to see transactions in near real-time.

If you’re struggling to activate a SIM online, you may need to go into a retail store of one of the major providers like Telstra or Optus and do it in person.

Resellers don’t have physical stores (other than supermarkets like Coles and Aldi, where you won’t get any technical support anyway).

Prepaid travel eSIMs are the most convenient option, since they can be set up before you arrive and don’t have the same identification requirements. They’re reasonably-priced if you don’t need enormous amounts of data: I talk more about them below.

Companies

  • I recommend Optus or Amaysim for most travelers who want a physical SIM
  • Consider Boost Mobile if you’ll spend a lot of time in remote areas
  • An eSIM from aloSIM is the best option if you only need data

Of the three network providers in Australia, Telstra has the widest coverage, and the highest prices to go with it.

The Optus network isn’t quite as large, although you’re unlikely to strike a problem in most towns and cities or popular tourist spots like the Great Ocean Road. It’s the rural areas where you’ll start hitting dead zones.

Vodafone coverage is reasonable and expanding, but it’s still the smallest of the three. If you know you’ll be spending time in small towns and rural areas, check the coverage maps (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone) to make sure you’ll get service where you need it.

I’ve used all three network providers and several of the resellers at different times. There’s not always a lot between them for prepaid customers, but Optus resellers like Amaysim usually have pretty good pricing.

Optus itself has had booths in all of the international airports I’ve flown into in Australia, although often only selling tourist-specific packs. This is usually the most expensive way to buy a SIM, but it’s there if you need it.

Boost, which resells service on the Telstra network, is a good option if you’re expecting to spend time in remote areas. It’s the only reseller with access to Telstra’s entire retail cell network, so you’ll get better coverage with Boost than anyone else except Telstra itself, at a cheaper price.

Your choice of provider may also depend on how urgently you need service. If you’re coming in off an international flight and want to get connected before you leave the airport, you’ll be buying from one of the three network providers unless you opt for a travel eSIM (below).

If you can wait until you get into town, and especially if you head to one of the supermarkets, however, you’ll have a wider range of options.

One thing to note: outside of the cities, you should expect to use more cell data in Australia than many other countries. Free Wi-Fi is often available in central parts of major centers, plus places like shopping malls and supermarkets, but overall it isn’t as common in Australia as elsewhere in the world.

Travel eSIM for Australia

if you have a recent iPhone or other supported device, the fastest way to get connected in Australia is to buy a travel eSIM. I’ve written a guide to eSIMs if you’re not familiar with them, but in brief, they’re software rather than a physical plastic card.

This means you can buy them before you leave home, avoiding the hassle of airport kiosks and phone stores entirely, and get connected as soon as you land. You don’t get as much data as with the local SIMs, but you still get plenty for not much money.

I’ve tested many different travel eSIM providers in Australia, and aloSIM is the one to go for: pricing is competitive, setup is very straightforward, and because it’s using the Telstra network, coverage is better and speeds faster than the competition.

Pick from one of the packages on offer (they range in validity from a week to a month), then scan the QR code to add the eSIM to your device. It should take under a minute, and then just turn your phone on once you land in Australia.

I reached out to them to see if they’d be interested in providing a discount to Too Many Adapters readers, which they were happy to do. Enter TMA at checkout to save a bit of cash on your first purchase.

As with the vast majority of travel eSIMs, this is a data-only service: there’s no phone number included, so you’ll need to use something like Skype or Google Voice to make and/or receive calls to other numbers. Apps like WhatsApp, Facetime, and Messenger work fine for voice and video calling, however.

How to Buy a Prepaid SIM Card in Australia

Amaysim

Amaysim doesn’t have its own retail stores, instead selling SIM cards through a range of outlets including post offices, supermarket chains, gas stations, and electronics stores.

You can also order them online if you’ve got an Australian address to use. They take 1-7 days to arrive, depending on where you are. I’ve done this in the past, and the little envelope arrived in the mailbox three days later in inner Melbourne.

On a different occasion, I walked into a branch of one of the major electronics stores in the Melbourne suburbs, and purchased a SIM and top-up voucher in under a minute.

Activation was relatively easy, requiring me to first enter the SIM number on the package, then select a phone number from a given range.

I then needed to provide my name, passport details, and an Australian address. There’s no additional verification done on the address, though, so you can use the one for your hotel or hostel without a problem.

Once that was done, I just selected a call, text, and data bundle, and how I wanted to pay for it. International credit and debit cards are fine for this purpose, but you can use Paypal instead if you’d prefer.

After that purchase went through, the SIM started working immediately. Note that you’ll be set up to renew automatically, using the card or Paypal account you specified. If you don’t want this to happen, turn off auto-renew from the Amaysim site or app.

Optus

Optus has physical stores throughout Australia, including at international airports. You can also order SIMs to be sent to an Australian address, and they’ll take 1-3 business days to get to you.

I’ve flown into Perth, Cairns, and Melbourne on recent trips, and in each case could have purchased from a kiosk or store in the arrivals area. Instead, I waited until I got downtown, and walked into an official store in the central city.

As mentioned earlier, some companies can be a bit funny about the identification requirements when selling to overseas visitors. In this case, at least, only a passport was required.

After choosing a call, text, and data package and handing over the cash, the staff member inserted the SIM, confirmed that it worked, and I was on my way. The process took under ten minutes.

Boost

You can buy Boost SIM packs at many major retailers, but large supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths are probably the most convenient. You can also get one posted out to you if you have an address to use.

Like other resellers, you’ll need to activate online rather than in a store, providing passport and visa info along with an address. You can use international credit/debit cards and Paypal to buy the SIM and top-up as needed.

This is the option my partner went with, and she’s been more than happy with the coverage and speeds.

Prepaid SIM and eSIM Costs

Amaysim

Amaysim is often cheaper than the competition, especially if you want a lot of data. The SIM card typically costs $2 when you purchase in person, and is often free when you buy online. There’s a wide range of call, data, and text packages at pretty low prices.

I’ve seen 28-day packages with unlimited domestic calls and texts start at 60GB for $15 AUD (~$10 USD), or 120GB for $25 (~$17 USD) for the first month. That’s great value, as long as you’ll use something close to that amount of data during your stay.

Competition in the reseller market means that the pricing and promotional deals change all the time, but suffice it to say that you’ll likely be able to get loads of data and all the domestic calls and texts you could ever need for not a lot of money.

The pricier package options also include free calls to certain international destinations. If you plan to call home regularly, that’s definitely something to bear in mind.

Boost

Boost pricing varies: sometimes it’s cheaper than resellers on other networks, sometimes it isn’t. It usually comes down to what promotions are running at the time, and whether they suit your particular requirements.

As I write this, for instance, there’s a mediocre offer of 7GB for $22, a better one of 50GB for $35, and it goes up from there. Domestic calls and texts are included, and the SIM itself is $2 extra.

aloSIM

Just like the local mobile market, there’s plenty of competition in the travel eSIM market as well. There’s rarely a clear-cut winner in terms of price: one company is cheapest for a certain amount of data, another is best for a different amount.

They’re all typically within a few dollars of each other, though, so in this case I’m recommending aloSIM based on the speeds in my testing. The latest prices and options for all of the companies I’d suggest using are in the table below.

Validity Period

  • 7 days

  • 15 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

Data Amount

  • 1 GB

  • 2 GB

  • 3 GB

  • 5 GB

  • 10 GB

  • 20 GB

Price (USD)

  • $4.50

  • $8

  • $9.50

  • $13.50

  • $20

  • $40

Validity Period

  • 7 days

  • 15 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

Data Amount

  • 1 GB

  • 2 GB

  • 3 GB

  • 5 GB

  • 10 GB

  • 20 GB

Price (USD)

  • $4.50

  • $8

  • $9

  • $12.50

  • $20

  • $40

Validity Period

  • 7 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 30 days

  • 45 days

Data Amount

  • 1 GB

  • 2 GB

  • 3 GB

  • 5 GB

  • 10 GB

  • 15 GB

  • 30 GB

  • 40 GB

  • 50 GB

  • 20 GB

Price (USD)

  • $5

  • $5

  • $10

  • $12

  • $19

  • $25

  • $80

  • $110

  • $125

  • $30

Topping Up

Amaysim

Topping up with Amaysim is straightforward. If you’ve linked your debit card, credit card, or Paypal account, you can add credit via the company’s app, your dashboard on the Amaysim website, or by texting TOP<amount> to 568.

For example, TOP10 will add $10. TOP1GB will buy another 1GB of data if you’ve run out, costing $10.

As mentioned above, by default the call/text/data bundle you’ve chosen will renew every 28 days, using the payment method you specified. If you’ve turned auto-renewal off, you can use a voucher instead.

They’re available anywhere that sells the SIM cards, and you won’t have a problem finding somewhere in all but the smallest towns.

Finally, you can upgrade your package at any time from the site or app.

Boost

Topping up with Boost is much the same as with other providers: you can buy a recharge voucher from anywhere that sells the SIM cards (and other places), or do it online using a credit or debit card or Paypal. Easy stuff.

Airalo

Topping up with Airalo (or any of the other travel eSIM companies) is done by logging into the website or app. You just select your Australia eSIM, hit the top-up button, and buy the same package again.

The top-up packs have exactly the same pricing and duration as the original eSIMs: there’s little difference between topping up your current eSIM and buying a new one, other than not having to activate it.

Get regular updates from the world of travel tech and remote work

News, reviews, recommendations and more, from here and around the web

Coverage and Data Speeds

Since Amaysim uses the Optus network, you’ll get service that covers “98.5% of the Aussie population”. I regularly get LTE speeds of 120Mbps+ in central Melbourne, which is very fast. Uploads are much slower, but are still fine for video calls etc.

Using an Optus SIM in the same location gave well over double that speed, however, even though it’s the same network. If the fastest speeds are important to you, bear this in mind, although I’d be surprised if you noticed the difference in daily use.

5G is available on the Optus network, including with Amaysim. It’s only really in major cities, though, and that’s assuming your phone supports the right frequencies to get it. Many international models won’t, especially North American ones.

aloSIM uses the Telstra 4G/LTE network, and offers the fastest service of any of the resellers I’ve come across. If the better coverage of the Telstra network is something you think you’ll need, this is the one to go for.

Screenshot of Speedtest result for AloSIM eSIM: 172Mbps download, 45.1Mbps upload
aloSIM LTE speeds in Melbourne
Screenshot of Amaysim LTE speed test result in Melbourne, Australia, showing 125Mbps download and 16.6Mbps upload.
Amaysim LTE speeds in Melbourne
Optus LTE speeds in central Melbourne
Optus LTE speeds in Melbourne

Check out our guides to SIM cards and eSIMs in 75+ other countries here.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

93 Comments

  1. Avatar PigSnowball says:

    Did you consider telling people how many forms of identification are usually required including proof of address?

    I honestly have no idea how they expect tourists to actually buy sim cards, of course they don’t have proof of address within Australia.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Yup, a passport may be required in Australia. My girlfriend was asked for a passport when she bought her SIM in a retail store, I was not asked for ID when buying one in a supermarket. Neither of us were asked for proof of address in-store, although given Australia’s love affair with rules and regulations, it certainly doesn’t surprise me that some companies do ask for it. I’d certainly expect to be asked for that when signing up on a post-paid account, mind you.

      1. Avatar PigSnowball says:

        Cool, I recently bought a SIM card too, and it seems the ones that are not activated in store seem to skip the compliance measures of proof of address.

        But the ones that are able to be activated with just a phone call still seem to need a proof of address. At least that was my experience 6 months ago.

      2. Avatar PigSnowball says:

        Just purchased a new sim card today. This time aldi mobile on the telstra network. The online activation required medicare and drivers license…

      3. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

        Crazy. That’s for a prepay, right? Was there another way to activate other than the online option?

    2. Avatar Vishal vikesh says:

      Hi my name is vishal from sri lanka. Im planning to move to australia next month and currently i have ordered a sim from australia via ebay for 12 dollars. How to activate the sim before i leave from the country to australia ??

      1. It depends on the provider. You’ll need to check with them, or whoever you bought the SIM from on eBay.

  2. Avatar PigSnowball says:

    It might also be useful to inform tourists what frequencies our Australian 3g uses, and if they are coming from which country, which network is compatible.

  3. Avatar Marge Chua says:

    Hi! I have a question. I am living in the Philippines and will be going to Australia next week, I have no idea which sim card i am going to buy. In my country, we have 3 major telecoms; sun cellular, globe telecom and smart communications. We can use internet using these networks even if we use prepaid sims, but we need to pay certain amt like 10php (approx. 0.25usd) every half hour of usage, problem is the speed of the internet depends on your location. My question is, in Australia do they have a prepaid simcard that i can use for text, call and internet browsing? I will only use internet for wechat or skype or yahoo messenger. Do australia have the same or almost the same service for using internet (the 0.25usd/half hr)?

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Hi Marge,

      You can definitely get prepaid SIM cards for voice, text and data in Australia. Most plans tend to be give you a certain amount of data (say 500MB or 2GB or whatever) rather than being based on how long you’re using it for.

      How long are you in Australia for? If it’s for two weeks or less, something like the Optus $2/day plan might be good – it gives you unlimited text, voice and data for $2 per day.

      If you’re there for longer, you’ll need to do some research to find out what the best value is – it changes all the time.

  4. I use prepaid sim card Travelsim every time if I am going to travell. Once purchased from the website I save my money and time during my trip.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Compared to roaming with your number from home, an international SIM card like TravelSim will probably save you money. Compared to purchasing a local SIM card, however – which is what this article is about – it almost certainly won’t.

    2. I went on Amazon and bought a SIM card deal. I had already booked an AirBNB in Melbourne so I asked the host if it was ok to ship the SIM card to the property. He agreed, so I got a great deal. I activated it when I got to the AirBNB (Telstra) and had great service for the 3 weeks I was there. I think I paid about $12 for the whole thing.

      1. I’m a bit surprised that a random Amazon seller can provide a better deal than Telstra itself, but anything is possible. If you’ve got a local address to use, don’t need a local SIM immediately on arrival (eg. to find your Airbnb), and are happy to take the small risk that there’s a problem with the SIM that’s harder to deal with than when buying direct, though, it’s worth a look on Amazon etc for sure.

  5. After analyzing multiple prepaid options for tourists, we have found that the ‘Dodo’ prepaid plans and ‘Lebara’ Unlimited plan would be most suitable for people traveling to Australia who want to use their phones for calls and data. The advantages of each will depend on how much data you want to use or how many international phone calls you want to make while you are in Australia.

    David
    Australian SIM Card 2U

  6. I’ve been to Australia before (2 years ago), and tried to get a sim card, but had to give all sorts of ID to get one (after hunting to find a place). I bought my last one on myaustraliansim.com and just had them deliver it to my hotel. Worked well. Haven’t yet tried any others though.

  7. Im in Australia now and the SIM cards are cheap with Lebara – airport kiosks. $40 for a month, unlimited text/phone calls to US. More than enough data for a month.

  8. Vodafone, Telstra and Optus all offer 4G direct on their prepaid offerings now, as does Yatango (who resell the Optus network).

    For many travellers, multinational players like Lycamobile and Lebara tend to offer better call rates to overseas destinations.

  9. I picked up a SIM card from Optus at Sydney Airport in July… I was offered a special rate of $25 for 3 weeks unlimited calls & texts and 7 GB of data. 3G on Optus in Australia seemed faster to me than LTE on Verizon in the US…. I had problems with data indoors in Hahndorf (no problems outside though) and on a stretch of rail line between Sydney and Wollongong. Was flawless the entire Great Ocean Road and train to Katoomba. They asked for my passport when purchasing and local address… I gave them the hotel address in Sydney and it was no problem.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Thanks John — that’s a very good deal by Australian standards. Optus does seem to be particularly competitive at the moment!

  10. Hi, would like to check, me and my friend are traveling to sydney and gold coast for 1 week, Basically we mainly need the data plan to navigate ourselves as well as to use it in hotels. Hence which prepaid sim card do you advise and how can I get it? thanks!

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      I haven’t researched specifically for your case, but as an example, you’d currently spend $14 AUD ($2 per day) for a week’s worth of data, calls and texts on the Optus ‘Prepaid Daily Plus’ plan. You can buy a SIM card with $10 worth of credit for $10, so you’d just need to top up with another few dollars, activate that plan and away you go. You get up to 500MB of data per day on that plan.

      You should get decent coverage in Sydney and the Gold Coast, and can probably buy the SIM and top up when you arrive at the airport (Sydney, at least). If not, there are Optus stores in every major town and city in Australia.

  11. Hi,

    I will be travelling to Tasmania for a week in Nov. Basically I need the data plan to use for checking emails and communication. Which prepaid sim card do you advise that it gives good coverage at country side also and how can I get it?

    Many thanks.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Telstra typically has the best coverage in rural areas, but it depends on where you’re going in Tasmania. Hobart, Launceston and other towns of reasonable size should have decent coverage with other providers, but if you’re in the middle of nowhere, you’ll probably want to use Telstra. Check the coverage maps on the various provider’s websites if you want to be sure.

      In terms of how you buy the SIM, you’ll find official stores in major cities and towns, as well as mobile phone shops, electronics stores and supermarkets throughout the country.

  12. Hi Dave

    Thanks for your reply.

    I am going to Launceston and then heading south to Ross, Bicheno, Swansea and Hobart. I will have a check of the coverage maps on the various providers websites as per your suggestion.

    Many thanks for the info.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      No problem. For what it’s worth, when I was last in Tasmania I was using Optus prepaid, and had good coverage in all of the places you list (except Ross, which I didn’t visit).

  13. Thanks for the tips, Dave 🙂

  14. Avatar Nikhil Sharan says:

    So thoughtful of you. Great honest info. I am travelling in a week to Australia. Hope to have a great time. Thanks again. Really appreciate your good work.

  15. Amaysim are a solid all-round option, but if you’re exploring a lot of the country, you might find the coverage outside of the major cities a bit lacking. Also, while their international rates are good, they’re not the absolute best on the market.

    I’d strongly recommend Lycamobile, who have amazingly low international call rates and use the Telstra 3G Wholesale network which offers better quality of coverage in the capital cities and a slightly better overall footprint of the country. The other option I would recommend if you’re doing a lot of travelling through rural and remote areas is Boost Mobile who use Telstra’s 3G and 4G networks, the largest network in Australia which covers twice the landmass of the Optus network that Amaysim uses.

    All three can be ordered online, or you can pick up SIM cards from most Woolworths or Coles supermarkets as well as Kmart & Big W stores and even most petrol stations.

  16. Avatar Beth Horsman says:

    Hi,
    I am coming from the UK to Sydney for 5 months. Preferably I would like a working SIM card before I leave the UK – is there any way this is possible or would I have to sort this out in Australia?
    Thank you

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      There are probably companies and eBay sellers in Australia that will ship you a working SIM, but I don’t know of any off the top of my head. If you are using Three in the UK, you can also roam for free in Australia until you sort out a local SIM.

  17. Avatar Brent Gray says:

    Hi Dave, great web site!

    My situation is somewhat unique in that I will be LIVING in Australia (moving from the U.S) for 18 months, as opposed to a short vacation/trip. I “think” I’d like to bring my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (Verizon currently) and use pre-paid SIMs while living in AU, but I’m not sure if I’m understanding the best options.

    My priorities are:

    1) Local calls and texting (in Australia)
    2) Text messaging back and forth to the U.S. (I will use Skype for calling)
    3) Probably some data, but probably not a high priority, unless it is used to accomplish #2 above.

    Regarding #2, I am wide open to other technologies (texting apps) that use data instead of regular phone network texting to text back and forth between the U.S.

    Also, as a side note, I’m a big Google Voice user (for forwarding calls, making calls, texting, and voicemail, too.) But I don’t know how that plays into my situation living in Australia, if at all.

    My question is, what’s the least expensive way to accomplish my 3 objectives above?

    Thanks for your expertise and advice.

    – Brent

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Hi Brent,

      A few thoughts:

      – you’ll want to double check your Note has a SIM slot that’s unlocked for international use.
      – as you’ll be living in Australia for over a year, it may be worth checking out postpaid plans as well. We don’t cover them on the site, but do a little research with both the resellers like Amaysim and Boost Mobile, and the carriers like Optus, to see what they’re offering.
      – Google Voice works well internationally. I use it all the time for both voice and text, including in Australia
      – I’d use WhatsApp and Google Voice in preference to sending international SMS, and Skype or Google Voice for voice calls.
      – While you’re figuring out your usage patterns, I’d probably still look at an As You Go plan for voice and text with Amaysim, and a data pack of some sort. With less free WiFi than you’re used to back home, you’ll use data more than expected in Australia. Once you know what your usage looks like, you can switch to a different plan and/or provider as needed.

      Hope that helps!

      1. Avatar Brent Gray says:

        Hi Dave,

        Thanks a lot for the info; all of it was very helpful.

        Regarding making sure my Galaxy Note has a SIM slot that’s unlocked for international use, according to Verizon they no longer “lock” their Smartphones, at all, so it should be good to go.

        One follow-up question regarding Google Voice. One of the features I use most of all is the follow-me number. Will people in the U.S. still be able to call my “local” Google Voice number and have it ring my new number in Australia? For some reason that seems to good to be true.

        Same question with regard to sending me a text message. Will they be able to just send me a text as usual and I’ll receive it in Australia?

        Thanks again!

        – Brent

      2. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

        Good to hear about the unlocked SIM slot!

        In terms of the follow-me stuff, sadly Google won’t let you forward incoming calls and texts directly to an international number. What I do instead is enable Google Hangouts to answer (and make) calls for that number. As long as you’ve got a data connection, the call will still “ring” on your phone, it’s just that it’s done through Hangouts rather than the phone dialer. Same thing happens with texts, they show up in Hangouts rather than your usual SMS app. We covered the process of setting that up here — some of the screens might have changed a bit, but I think the process is still pretty much the same.

        For me this is a positive, as it means I can get calls and texts to that number no matter where I am in the world, and as long as I’ve got Wi-fi, I don’t even need a SIM card at that point.

        That’s probably less of a benefit if you’re in one country for a year or more, but at least it’ll still work. 🙂

  18. Avatar Francesca says:

    Hi Dave,

    I’m coming to Australia for 5 months and was wondering which sim card would be the most appropriate for me.
    – Mainly data usage
    – some local calls

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      It sounds like you have similar usage patterns to me, so I’d check out the same Amaysim As You Go plan for voice and text, plus a data pack (1GB for $10, or 2.5GB for $20, probably) to start with. If you find you’re making quite a few local calls and texts, you can switch to something like the $25 unlimited call/text plan with 1.5GB of data, or $30 unlimited call/text with 3GB instead.

      As I mentioned in the article, Amaysim has a whole bunch of plans, so it’s pretty easy to mix and match to find the one that suits your usage.

  19. Hi Dave,

    I’m coming to Australia for a 3 weeks travel. Visiting Adelaide and doing a road trip from Cairns to Sydney. I have a unlocked Samsung S3. I’ll use a lot Facebook, What’s up and SMS to Portugal, UK and Luxembourg. Which SIM card is the best for me ?

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      If you want as much coverage as possible on your road trip, you’ll probably want to go with a Telstra SIM, or one of its resellers like Boost Mobile.

  20. Hi Dave
    I’m not very techy so please bear with me 😉
    We’ll be travelling from the UK to Hong Kong to Australia (inc a weeks coastal road trip from Sydney to Melbourne) to Singapore and home again in December. My husband wants to get a Sim Card for his iPhone 6 so he doesn’t get harassed by work calls while we’re away but can still keep his phone fully functional. Any advice on this, please?
    Ros

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Hi Ros,
      We’ve got advice on SIM cards for Australia in this article, and for Singapore here. None for Hong Kong at this point, unfortunately. If you buy a local SIM, you’ll achieve your goal — a different number, so no annoying work calls, but you’ll be able to use data, calls and texts as normal.

  21. We are coming over from the US to visit family and friends primarily in Brisbane, Townsville, Mullumbimby and Forster/Tuncurry. We have unlocked iPhones and our US carrier is T-Mobile. I’d appreciate suggestions on which carrier is the best suited to that travel itinerary and which reseller will give us the best combination of price and service. Thanks.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Take a look at the coverage maps for both Telstra and Optus (linked near the top of this post), and see how they line up with your intended itinerary. If Optus coverage is sufficient, go with Amaysim. If it isn’t, Boost Mobile is your best choice for using Telstra’s network at an affordable price.

      The other thing to mention, though, is if you’re on one of T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plans, you get free data and text roaming, and cheap-ish calls, in Australia. That may well cover your requirements without needing a local SIM at all, although you’d probably want to find out who their roaming partner is in Australia if you’re worried about coverage outside major towns and cities.

  22. I have tried buying a sim from Amaysim but although I have given an address in Sydney their site won’t accept my passport details. I am only in Australia for a month travelling to Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth but would need a phone to arrange pick ups etc. Any ideas what to do now?

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Contact their support via live chat – they were reasonably responsive when I had an activation issue.

  23. Hello, I’m heading to Australia next month for 2 weeks in Melbourne, Frankston and Mornington Peninsula. Am planning on walking into a Telstra or similar store in Frankston to purchase a prepaid cell phone as my US phone has no support there. Along with my passport and friend’s local address, should I expect any difficulty in obtaining a cell phone?

    Thanks in advance!

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      That’s how it’s supposed to work, yup. You’re unlikely to have a problem, especially buying a phone rather than just a SIM, but if you do, maybe just get your friend to go in and buy it on your behalf.

  24. Avatar A Tourist says:

    Dave,
    Great article on SIMs for Australia, and a great webite too. Lots of useful information.

    I just had a Live Chat with Amaysim customer support. She told me that the only way to activate a new SIM is via the activtion page on their website. She insisted that over-the-air activation (using the new SIM in my iPhone) was not possible. As a tourist, I won’t have any internet access, so will have no way to activate the SIM.

    If what she told me is accurate, I don’t see that Amaysim is a good choice for visitors to the country (unless they have internet access somewhere).

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Yeah, over the air activation would definitely be preferable. That said, it’s getting easier to find cafes etc with free WiFi in Australia, and almost all hotels and hostels offer it (paid or otherwise). There’s even free public WiFi in places like Federation Square in Melbourne, so it’s relatively easy for tourists to get online long enough to complete the activation process.

      1. Avatar A Tourist says:

        @Dave,
        Thanks a lot for the reply.
        I’ve found that unlike Amaysim, a Boost SIM can be activated over-the-air. According to the Boost website, their SIM will permit an internet connection to their activation portal before the SIM has been activated.

        As of this month (Oct 2016), compared to Amaysim, the Boost $40 pre-paid plan is a better offer for Canadian tourists with unlimited calls home. That, of course, is subject to change in the dynamic world of cellphone marketing.

        Thanks again for the great website!

      2. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

        If Boost is offering a deal that better meets your needs, go for it! There’s nothing wrong with Boost at all — it has better coverage due to being on the Telstra network, plus the over-the-air activation you mention, so there’s nothing to lose. 🙂

  25. Avatar helen vroom says:

    pls how can i get Australia number that i can use on whatsapp?

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      By buying and using an Australian SIM card with a data package, then switching your number in WhatsApp to the new Australian number.

      If you just want to use WhatsApp with your existing number while you’re in Australia, simply buy and use a SIM card as per the details in this post. You don’t need to change your WhatsApp number to match your new Australian one if you don’t want to, and for most short-term travellers in a different country, it’s easier not to.

  26. Avatar Christopher says:

    My wife & I will be visiting Australia for a month soon and I just want to thank you for providing this information. It is so very useful! Thanks again.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      No problem, Christopher — glad you found it helpful!

  27. Dave, thanks for this informative post. Can you tell me if I will need a different SIM card for use in Australia and New Zealand?

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      There might be a few operators that let you roam between the two countries, but even if they do, it’s expensive. Unless you’re only in one or the other for a few days, you’ll be much better off with local SIMs in each country.

  28. Very useful information on this blog, we are planning to travel to NZ and Australia this week. Any link to NZ service provider would be helpful.

    1. Dave Dean Dave Dean says:

      Hi Mukesh,

      Sure, you can find that here.

  29. Avatar Michael Bremer says:

    Dave,
    Thanks for the post on SIM cards. I’m heading down to Australia shortly from Chicago. I’ll pick something up once I arrive.

  30. Avatar Susie Darke says:

    Very useful site, thank you. I have just bookmarked it for further study.

  31. Heading to austrailia for military tour of 6 months. Currently have verizon. Need to video chat with family stateside usa. Looking for best option. Thoughts?

    1. Without knowing where you’ll be based / going to, I don’t really have any specific suggestions beyond what’s written above. Before you go, just make check your phone has a GSM SIM card slot unlocked for international use (most recent Verizon iPhones do, for example), so you can use a SIM from one of the companies mentioned in this post and comments.

  32. Hi dave,

    Thanks for the post. I will be travelling from melbounrne to brisbane
    I will stay at Kyneton in melbourne,canberra,katoomba in sydney,newcastle,coffs harbour and byron bay. Which sim card is the best to buy now?
    Im looking for more data,normal usage for calls.

    Thank you

      1. All of those places should have good coverage with both Optus and Telstra (and their resellers, as listed in this post and the comments), so I’d just check which company has the best deal at the time you arrive and go with that one.

      2. Hi dave,
        Thank you. This website helps loads

      3. No problem — glad you find it useful! 🙂

  33. Avatar Romeo Seguin says:

    Hi Dave!

    We will travelling from Canada to Australia in next May and June.
    I’d need to know if any of thd prepaid sim providers have a plan to call international on top of local calls and sms.
    As we will need to call local and would like to keep in touch with Montreal, are the Australian international rates affordable?

    Thank you in advance for your help!

    Romeo

    1. International calling rates with the major Australian carriers have traditionally been quite expensive, but some of the resellers have better prices. Lycamobile (for instance) currently has calls to Canada for 1-3c/minute — details here.

      You could also use Google Hangouts, which has free calls to the US and Canada (but you’ll be using your data allowance to do it, if you’re not on Wi-fi). We talk about setting that up here.

  34. Avatar Fortune Uba says:

    Hi David,
    I really do appreciate your good work. Please, I will be coming to University of Adelaide, Waite Campus for my masters degree programme from Nigeria which will last for 2 years. Which sim will be the best for me with respect to cheap international (Nigeria) calls, local calls and 4G internet services and wide suburb coverage?.

    Thank you!

    1. As with the comment above this, Lycamobile offers reasonable rates to most overseas countries. Calls to Nigeria currently cost $0.01-0.15 AUD/minute, depending on which plan you’re on and whether you’re calling landline or mobile. Skype costs 0.125 EUR/minute to either landline or mobile, but does offer packages that bring the cost down, or you can do device-to-device Skype calls for free.

      Regarding the rest of the requirements (local calls, high speed internet, wide coverage), recommendations for those are in the post and comments already. You should get good coverage with any major provider throughout most of Adelaide.

  35. Avatar Lori Guckenberg says:

    Hi David,

    My son will be studying abroad in Melbourne starting in July for 5.5 months. We are with Verizon in the states? Should he pick up a Sim card here in the states or wait until he gets to Australia? He will be calling and texting to the states, but will use WIFI as much as possible. We are looking for something that will allow calls to home without costing an arm and leg.

    1. If calls and texts back to the US are the main priority, and he’s happy to use Wifi to do it, use Google Hangouts / Google Voice. Calls to most US and Canadian numbers are free, via any Internet connection, including Wi-fi. Details here. If he also wants local calls, texts and data while in Melbourne (and he probably will), he should buy a SIM when he gets there, as per the info in this post.

  36. Avatar Bernie Breen says:

    Hi Dave it’s not which SIM card to buy but what type I’ve got a microsoft Lunima it’s got two SIM cards a micro and a nano which one do I need for a date and an Australian phone it might seem obvious but I’m a bit dim

    1. Hi Bernie,

      Let me know the model number of your phone, and I’ll see if I can help.

  37. Avatar Bernie Breen says:

    Hi Dave it is aMicrosoft Lumia 550

    1. Hi Bernie,

      There was a dual SIM version of that phone, although it looks like it was only available in ’emerging markets’ like India and China. The rest were single SIM, with a micro-SD card slot for extra storage.

      In any case, as best I can tell, the nano SIM slot is the one you’ll want to use.

  38. Hi Dave

    I will be visiting manily towns rural areas around Melbourne and a few days on Tasmania and want to buy a local SIM. But, my phone doesn´t support LTE. I love my little phone and would like to know if Telstra offer any options that would suit me. I don´t need any data at all (my tiny phone is a smart phone but I don´t use data at all on it), only texts and calls would be necessary.

    I just got back from a trip to the US and I did run into problems there because all the pre paid plans I could find required LTE, even if I wanted only texts and calls, They did have plans that offered very little data but, the phone had to support LTE …

    1. That requirement for LTE support won’t apply in Australia. To confirm, plug your phone model into this website, choose Australia and Telstra, and see what it tells you. If you get a tick against any of the results, you’ll be able to make calls and send texts.

      1. Thank you very much that was very helpful. I checked the site you recommended and now know that I can use my “antique” little phone in Australia. PERFECT! 🙂

  39. Avatar leavingmurica says:

    I thought I’d share our one month experience in Australia. When we arrived we got a $40 SIM from Telstra in Melbourne, which included 15gb data, unlimited calls & text (to USA as well). We used a lot of data traveling between Melbourne, driving the Great Ocean Road, and in Sydney.

    Tip #1: make sure if you have your photos saved to the cloud that its only done over wifi, same thing goes with auto updates of apps.

    We soon realized that we’re running out of data and needed more (we didn’t follow tip #1 right away). So we went back to Telstra to top off. The sales person was telling us that it’s something like $15/gb etc. We did some research later that day and found out that they offer a $10 sim with 1gb plus an extra bonus of 9gb! We would have to change our sim and thus get a new number, but that wasn’t a big deal at all. Plus you could activate whenever online (note that these sims expire after 1 week of activation).

    Tip #2, this led me into thinking that next time we’re down under we’ll just buy a few of the $10 sim specials, activate them one by one, and be on our merry way.

  40. Hi Dave,
    I will be arriving in Melbourne on 6th Feb and will only stay until 10th (Saturday) for 3 days business meeting. What kind of sim you can recommend me and is it available to buy in the airport? How much will it cost me? Thank you.

    1. Buy an Optus SIM at the airport. I don’t know what the minimum cost will be when you buy it there – it may be $10, it may be more. You’ll need to ask at the time.

  41. Hi, having a good experience with amaysim. Bought a SIM card at 7-Eleven and used PayPal for payment and had it up and running in a couple of minutes. I used up my 1 gb in two weeks, but if you update to a bigger plan a new 28 days period is started immediately.

  42. Hey, Dave. Going to New Zealand and Australia in May and your info for both countries is fantastic – thank you. I want to have my current phone available for communications with home (US) so am taking my now “backup” iPhone 5s to be used as the “local” phone. I’ll need it for a bit of walking-around GPS and contact with the rental apartment POCs in Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. While I have the NZ sim plan nailed down, I’m not sure about the 2 weeks in Oz. Do you have a recommendation? Many thanks!

    1. If you can get by with just 500MB of data, Optus has a $10 plan with unlimited calls and texts valid for three weeks that would cover your needs. Otherwise you’re best off with a different provider — Amaysim has a similar plan with 1GB of data and unlimited calls/texts for $10, or 2.5GB for $20.

      Other providers may also have something that more closely matches your needs as well, if you’re happy to do a bit of digging around on their websites.

  43. Avatar Ralph Neibel says:

    Hello Dave, Thank you for all the information. My wife and I are coming for 3 weeks. We just need her Iphone SE to work with data. very little calls and text to Canada. We will be traveling all over from Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Cairns, Ularu and Melbourne. The link you gave for checking to see if the phone will work, we did and it will work. How much does a sim card cost? Then we pick a pre paid plan? What do you suggest? Thank you in advance for your Help

    1. Depending on which company you buy from, SIM cards are either free or up to ten dollars. You then buy a call/text/data package that suits.

      It looks like Optus’s $30 package is offering even more data than when I was last there — you’ll get 35GB, plus unlimited local calls and texts. You should get decent coverage in all the places you mention, and if you’re driving on the main highways on the east coast and/or flying between town and city destinations, you don’t need to worry so much about coverage levels in rural areas. It seems like a good choice for you. If not, take a look at Boost or Telstra.

  44. Found this while looking for sim cards for Bali 🙂 I live in Australia and some of the cheapest plans you’ll find are plans with introductory pricing. For example I have really bad fixed line internet where I live so I get 5 dollar kogan mobile plans when they’re on sale which gives 40gb and unlimited calls and texts. They’re on vodafone however.

    https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/kogan-mobile-prepaid-voucher-code-extra-large-30-days-40gb-490/

    https://ovo.com.au/products/broadband
    If you need heaps of data, e.g over 100gb your only real option is purchasing a prepaid sim from ovo or some other optus re sellers. This is due to optus and telstra etc only making large data plans available to those on post paid plans. However the plans for ovo with large data allowances e.g 250gb have no voice calls etc.

    A good website for finding cheap sim deals is ozbargain. Basically people put cheap deals they’ve found around.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/prepaid-mobile-plan

    Hope this helps anyone 🙂

  45. Just ordered my sim online via amaysim. Problem is I cannot activate it online as it needs a foreign passport that is not offshore. So my sim remains not active.

    1. I’m not sure what you mean, sorry? I was able to activate my Amaysim SIM with a non-Australian passport, if that’s what you’re asking.

Note that comments are manually approved, so there will be a delay before they appear on the site. Please keep them polite.