Telephone & Time

Local calls cost 40c from public phones and there is no time limit. Public phones will accept either coins or phone cards. Some may accept both. Phone cards are available from post offices, newsagencies, bars, service stations and other stores. They can be bought in $2, $5, $10 and $20 amounts. Some phones will accept credit cards.

Australia has three time zones:

• Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the east coast
• Western Standard Time (WST) on the west coast
• Central Standard Time (CST) in the middle.

EST is 30 minutes ahead of CST and 2 hours ahead of WST. Be sure to check the time differences when calling, nobody likes to be woken up by the phone at 12:00 am!

Important Telephone Numbers:

• Emergency: 000 (Life threatening emergency - Fire, Police, Ambulance)
• Translation & Interpreting Service: 13 1450
• RAA Emergency Road Service: 13 111
• Poisons Information Centre: 13 1126
• Alcohol & Drug Information & Counselling: 1800 177 833