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Emergency calls in Australia

How to make emergency calls to 000, other emergency call numbers and making emergency calls in remote areas or during network outages.

Call 000 in an emergency

000 is our primary emergency service number. You can call 000 from both mobile phones and Home Phones.

During an emergency, you can also call the following numbers:

  • 112 is an emergency number, for digital mobile phones only. Not available for Home Phones.
  • 106 is a text-based emergency call for people who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech impairments. This number can only be called with a teletypewriter (TTY), not SMS messages.

The Optus mobile network is used to make emergency calls.
 

Emergency calls from a mobile phone

Emergency calls from your mobile phone on 000 or 112 are both free and can be made:

  • without charges or credit
  • from locked mobile handsets
  • even if your mobile service is restricted, suspended, or disconnected if you are in the coverage area of any available mobile network.

You cannot make emergency calls from phones that only use the 3G network.
 

Emergency calls from a Home Phone

000 is the only available emergency call number for a Home Phone. You can call this number free of charge if the line is active and you hear a dial tone. You can do this even if the phone is restricted to incoming calls only.

Landline phones use VoIP technology, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. This means you can make emergency calls to 000, using your internet connection.

Remote areas or network outages

If you’re in a remote area or experiencing a network outage and the Optus Mobile Network is not available, newer devices will still attempt to connect your call using any other mobile network that is available.

Accessibility support and more information

  • Accessibility support: Visit the Australian Government’s Access Hub.

  • Emergency call numbers and 000: Visit the Australian Government’s Triple Zero website.

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