Students will receive an AUD $10 phone card when they arrive in Cairns/Rotorua for their orientation. Students are encouraged to call home to let their family/friends know that they have arrived in Australia/New Zealand safely. Students can call from the hotel telephone in their room or from a pay phone.
We also send students in their pre-departure package the hotel phone number/fax number that they will be staying at in Cairns/Rotorua. If your child has not called home, you may call the hotel and ask for their room number.
Please remember that the flight to Australia/New Zealand is long, and students will pass over the international dateline. To know what the time difference is in Australia/New Zealand compared to where you are located, please check the website www.worldtimeserver.com
What is the best way to contact my child?
Email is the cheapest way of contacting your child. Students will find that they will check their email accounts all the time to keep in touch with close family and friends from back home. AustraLearn encourages students to sign up for a Hotmail/AOL account so that they can check their email while traveling. It is also very popular for students to stop in Internet Cafes to check their email while traveling and not on campus.
The Australian/New Zealand Universities are well equipped with computer labs both on campus and in most of the dorms. Many of the on-campus accommodations come equipped with internet connection in the rooms. If you or your child are planning on taking a labtop and are unsure if their room will have an Internet connection, please have your child contact their AustraLearn coordinator.
Calling to Australia can be expensive, but parents are encouraged to compare international rates with different phone companies as well as looking on the Internet.
Depending on which university in Australia your child is attending, most students will have a phone in their room. As soon as the students move into their room on or off campus, ask them to email or call you with their phone number.
Students are encouraged to talk to the International Office at their Australian University to see if they know of any good international rates/deals that the staff may know of.
If you are having a hard time contacting your child at their Australian University, students are given the contact information for their Australian/New Zealand Universities International Office. Ask that your child leaves you a copy of this information in case you need to get in touch of them in an emergency. Dialing to Australia and New Zealand Placing International calls will vary by the type of calling card you are using, so please refer to this for a general guideline.
011 (Allows you to call outside of US)
61 (Australia Country Code) or 64 (New Zealand Country Code)
One digit city code (The city code may be listed as two digits, beginning with a ‘0’, drop the zero when placing international calls)
Phone Number
For Example:
Your student calls from New Zealand with his/her new phone number:
04-987-6543
You will dial: 011-64-4-987-6543
Should I buy my child calling cards from the U.S. or can they wait to buy them in Australia? We recommend that students buy the majority of their international calling card minutes in Australia. Calling cards in Australia will not cause complications since they are already set up for international calling. If you do want to buy one in the U.S., please make sure that the card is able to be used from Australia, and that your child knows what number they will need to use in order to call out of the country. Just a reminder, if you buy a card here in the U.S., the amount of minutes will not be accurate since Australia will take up more calling minutes than domestic minutes.
To check out rates from Australia using a calling card, please check out the Telstra Website, which is Australia’s major phone company. www.telstra.com.au/services/
To check out rates from New Zealand using a calling card, please check out the Telecom Website, which is New Zealand’s major phone company. www.telecom.co.nz/
Should I buy my child an international cell phone before they leave for their trip to Australia/New Zealand? International Cell phones can be very expensive with very high rates. If a student feels that they definitely need a cell phone, it is more practical to buy one in Australia that allows the user to use pre-paid minutes. AustraLearn will provide your child with information on pre-ordering a cell phone through UniWireless which will be delivered to him/her at the on-site orientation in Cairns or Rotorua. UniWireless will provide your child with the opportunity to return the phone at the end of the semester for a partial refund.
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