Setting Up a 1300 Number in Australia — and Running It

Most pages about setting up a 1300 number in Australia stop at sign-up. This one keeps going, because the setup is genuinely short — three published decisions — and the value comes from what happens in the weeks after. The basics first: a 1300 number is a shared-cost inbound number; the caller pays a local call cost and the business pays the remainder, on plans from $10 per month.

The three setup decisions

The tail or word: search available 1300/1800 Phonewords by word or last six digits. A word is a Phoneword — up to six letters, priced from $40 per month with availability and desirability affecting the price.
The plan: published 1300 plans run across $10, $15, $39, $79 and $99 per month, each with separate fixed-line and mobile call rates on the pricing page.
The answering point: the signup flow asks for the number the service will connect to — the phone the calls reach.

Sign-up confirms the number, and the terms and conditions govern from there. No activation timeframe is published, so ask the team on 1300 327 934 for current timing rather than assuming one.

Why the shared-cost detail matters before you choose

The caller-pays part of a 1300 number is not trivia — it is the reason businesses pick 1300 over 1800 or the reverse. A caller contribution means every short enquiry costs you less than it would on an 1800 number, and it also means customers on some plans pay to reach you, which suits frequent, brief, practical calls better than emotionally loaded ones. Reading the caller arrangement as part of the setup — not as an afterthought — is what makes the three decisions above coherent instead of three separate guesses.

The first weeks: make the number findable

A 1300 number that exists but is not published does nothing. Put it in the same places customers already look — website header, quote templates, invoices, email signature, signage — and nowhere else yet. One consistent number beats two competing ones. If you want the number to earn measurement as well as calls, the published Call Tracking Numbers add-on ($5 per month) is designed to show which ads and campaigns drive your calls.

Reading the bill as it settles

The 1300 bill has a shape: the plan fee, then call charges that depend on caller type — the published tables price fixed-line and mobile calls separately, with mobile higher — minus the contribution callers make as a local call cost. After a real month or two, compare the shape against the plan's included value: if the included minutes never fill, the cheaper plan may suit; if they overflow early, the neighbouring plan's rates may be cheaper than the overage. That reading habit is the whole "management" of a 1300 number as the published pages describe it.

Setup and running questions

What is the cheapest 1300 setup?

An available plain number on the $10 per month entry plan, with the answering point you already answer on. The word component starts from $40 per month only if you choose a Phoneword.

Do callers really pay part of the call?

Yes — that is the shared-cost design. The caller pays a local call cost and the business pays the remainder, which is why the 1300 caller arrangement differs from an 1800 number.

When should I change plans?

The published tables make the comparison direct: if included value reliably goes unused or reliably overflows, the neighbouring plan's rates may fit better. The pricing page holds the current figures.

Can I see which ads drive my 1300 calls?

The published option is the Call Tracking Numbers add-on at $5 per month, described on the pricing page as showing which ads and campaigns drive your calls.