Since April 1, 2021, a new Scam Calling Code has been applied in Australia. This Scam Calling Code applies to Australian carriers and carriage service providers, and provides for the identification, tracing and blocking of scam calls.
⚠️ Please be aware that these regulations affect outbound calling capabilities on specific types of Australian phone numbers (numbers starting in +61 13, +61 1300, +61 1800, or +61 1900).
In Australia, local rate (13 or 1300), freephone (1800) and premium rate (1900) numbers are special numbers which are generally only purchased and used by businesses for the purpose of allowing a customer or potential customers to contact them. They are generally not used to originate calls.
Under the new rules, carriers and carriage service providers are expected to block any call that originates from a number starting with ‘13’, ‘1300’, ‘1800’ or ‘1900’. This means that any number starting with ‘13’, ‘1300’, ‘1800’ or ‘1900’ should no longer be used to make outbound calls, as these calls will likely be blocked. These new rules have been introduced to reduce the potential for scam calls.
If an agent tries to initiate an outgoing call with a number starting with one of these prefixes, they will see the following warning: “Numbers restriction. You are about to use the number type, which will most likely be blocked by carriers and service providers, considering it to be a scam call” and will need to decide whether to continue or cancel the call. This warning is for information purposes only, and does not prevent the agent from pursuing the call attempt with this number.
All other number types will continue to operate normally and Aircall offers a wide range of Australian geographic numbers that will allow you to continue calling all mobile and landline numbers. Australian geographic numbers can be purchased directly within the Admin Dashboard, or you can reach out to the Porting Team for assistance.