How to Call Australia from NZ: Dialing Steps & Costs

Anyone who has stared at a phone number and wondered whether to type 00 or + has felt the small panic of international dialing. Calling Australia from New Zealand is simple once you know which digits to keep and which to drop: exit code 00, country code 61, then the number without its leading 0 — the same rule Skinny NZ (international calling guide) states for every international call. The landline and mobile formats, real rates from Spark and One NZ, and the mistakes that usually cause misdials all come down to those three parts.

New Zealand exit code: 00 or + ·
Australia country code: 61 ·
Standard dialing prefix from NZ landline: 00 61 ·
Mobile dialing prefix: +61 ·
Average cost per minute (Spark standard): $0.99 NZD/min (Spark NZ (codes and rates))

Seven dialing pieces, one pattern: the exit code, the country code, and the local number without its leading 0.

How do I dial an Australian number from New Zealand?

Every international call from New Zealand follows the same three-part structure: the exit code, the destination country code, and the local number with its leading 0 removed — the rule Skinny NZ (international calling guide) states in its guide.

Dialing from a landline

Landline format: 00 + 61 + area code (no leading 0) + local number — e.g., 00 61 7 12345678 (Spark NZ (codes and rates))

1. Dial 00 — New Zealand’s international access code.
2. Dial 61 — Australia’s country code.
3. Dial the area code without its leading 0 — Brisbane is 7, not 07.
4. Dial the local number and press call.

The same pattern covers every Australian city: Sydney’s 02 becomes 2, Melbourne’s 03 becomes 3, Brisbane’s 07 becomes 7.

Dialing from a mobile phone

Mobile format: +61 4xx xxx xxx (or 00 61 4xx xxx xxx from any phone)

1. Hold 0 until + appears, or dial 00 — both route you out of New Zealand (EveryTel (help center)).
2. Dial 61 — Australia’s country code.
3. Dial the mobile number without its leading 0 — 04xx xxx xxx becomes 4xx xxx xxx (Viber (international calling guide)).
4. Press call.

An Australian mobile saved as 0400 123 456 is dialed as +61 400 123 456 from New Zealand — same number, same destination, one fewer 0.

The pattern: exit code, country code, local number without its 0. It’s identical for every Australian landline and mobile, so the only real variable left is the price — which is exactly where provider plans start to differ.

How much does it cost to call Australia from NZ?

The cost depends on three things: your provider, your plan, and whether you dial from a home phone or a mobile. The gap between the cheapest route and the most expensive one is wider than most people expect.

Spark standard rates

Spark’s price applies when no international pack or bundle is active. Plans with an international add-on change the per-minute cost, so the rate table on Spark’s help page — the same page linked in the stats line — is the first place to check before calling.

One NZ international call plans

• One NZ home-phone international rate table: 30¢/min to Australian home phones and 50¢/min to Australian mobiles — shown in the quick-reference table above.
• One NZ prepay casual rates: 89¢/min for international calls to top overseas countries (One NZ (prepay terms)).
• Which rate applies depends on your account type — home-phone plans and prepay mobiles bill international calls differently.

The result: One NZ is either the cheapest major-carrier option for Australian landlines or nearly the most expensive, depending on the plan. The rate is a plan detail, not a fixed price.

Free calling options (VoIP apps)

• App-to-app calls (WhatsApp, FaceTime, Messenger) are generally free when both sides use the same app.
• Viber: 2.1¢/min to Australian landlines, 9.9¢/min to Australian mobiles (Viber (calling guide)).
• DialVia: from 6¢/min to Australian landlines and 16¢/min to Australian mobiles (DialVia (web calling service)).
• SayFone: 14¢/min to Australia on its standard service (SayFone (calling service)).

The trade-off is practical: VoIP calls depend on a data connection, and the caller ID may show a VoIP number instead of a normal mobile number. For regular calls to one or two people, the per-minute savings versus carrier rates are hard to ignore.

What this means: the dialing format is identical on every route — the billing is what separates them. Two minutes on your provider’s rate page can save more per call than the call itself costs.

The price is the variable; the dialing sequence is not.

Is Australia +61 or 04?

The confusion is understandable: Australian mobile numbers start with 04, and New Zealand’s own code +64 sits one digit away from +61. Dial the wrong code and the call lands in the wrong country.

Country code vs. Australian mobile prefix

• +61 is Australia’s country code; 04 is only the domestic prefix Australian mobiles begin with. From NZ, 04xx xxx xxx becomes +61 4xx xxx xxx — the 0 is replaced, the 4 stays (Viber (international calling guide)).
• +64 is New Zealand’s own country code — it belongs to New Zealand numbers, not Australian ones.

If a contact saves an Australian number as 0400 123 456, don’t tap it as-is. Read it as +61 400 123 456 and the call arrives where it should.

What this means: the 0 at the start of an Australian number is a domestic shortcut that expires at the border — overseas, the country code replaces it.

How do I call a 1300 Australian number from NZ?

Australian businesses use 1300 numbers as a local-rate line: callers inside Australia pay a local-rate fee regardless of the business’s state. From New Zealand, that domestic pricing logic does not apply, but the number itself can be dialed.

Dialing 1300 numbers internationally

• Dial 00 61, then the 1300 number exactly as written — 1300 numbers follow the same pattern as any Australian national number.
• From NZ, the call is international, so the international rate applies — without a plan, that can be 90¢ to over $4 per minute (EveryTel (help center)).
• Some 1300 numbers may not accept overseas calls at all. Check with the business and ask for an alternate landline or mobile if it takes international callers.

So a 1300 number becomes 00 61 1300 followed by the remaining six digits. The call connects only if the business’s line accepts overseas traffic — a quick look at its contact page beats a surprise on the bill.

The catch: 1300 numbers are priced for domestic convenience, not international reach. When a business lists an alternate number, that is the safer choice from NZ.

How do I call New Zealand from Australia?

The same logic works in reverse: from Australia, the international exit code is 0011, New Zealand’s country code is 64, and the local number drops its leading 0.

From an Australian landline

• Dial 0011 — Australia’s international exit code.
• Dial 64 — New Zealand’s country code.
• Dial the New Zealand number without its leading 0 — a mobile saved as 021 123 4567 becomes 64 21 123 4567.

From an Australian mobile

• Dial +64, then the New Zealand number without the leading 0.
• Or dial 0011 64 followed by the number — both reach the same destination.

The common error mirrors the NZ-to-Australia one: keeping the local 0 or dropping the exit code. Get the three parts right and the direction does not matter.

The symmetry is the point: both countries use the same structure — exit code, country code, number without its 0. Fix the structure and you can dial across the Tasman in either direction.

The pattern: the dialing codes themselves are settled across every provider guide; the only real variable is the per-minute price, and that is a plan decision, not a dialing problem.

What the providers say

“International calling uses the origin country’s exit code, the destination country’s country code, and the telephone number.”

Skinny NZ (international calling guide)

“Dial 00, then 61, then the Australian area code without the leading zero, then the phone number.”

Voyager NZ (provider guide)

Both providers — one a major mobile network, one a smaller ISP — describe the same sequence, which is exactly why the format is safe to trust. The price, as noted above, is the part to verify.

Dialing Australia from New Zealand is the easy part: 00 (or +), then 61, then the number with the leading 0 removed — a format that is stable across every provider guide in this article. The cost is where the real decision lives, and it swings from a few cents on a VoIP route to dollars per minute on a standard un-bundled carrier rate. For New Zealanders who call Australia weekly, the choice is clear: check your provider’s international rate page once and set a default — a plan bundle, a VoIP app, or the plain pay-per-minute rate — rather than discovering the price in the next month’s bill.

Frequently asked questions