If you're arriving on a student visa, you don't need a contract, a credit history or an Australian bank account to get a phone number. You need a prepaid SIM (or eSIM), a passport, and about ten minutes.

This page compares the plans international students actually use, at the prices carriers were advertising in August 2026. Prices change often — every provider name below links to its own plans page so you can check before you buy.

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The short answer

• Just landed, want it working today: Boost $28 (8GB, Telstra network) or an Everyday Mobile $30 SIM from any Woolworths.
• Best value per dollar: felix $30 for 50GB, or Boost $39 for 60GB if you want Telstra coverage.
• No home internet, phone is your hotspot: Everyday Mobile 70GB or felix's unlimited-data plan.
• Travelling regionally / working in a rural placement: pay more for a Telstra-network SIM (Telstra or Boost). Nothing else comes close outside the cities.

Comparison table — prepaid SIM plans for students

Prices as advertised August 2026. "Network" is whose towers you're actually on.

Provider	Plan	Data	Network	Term
Boost	$28	8GB + rollover	Telstra	28 days
Boost	$39	60GB	Telstra	28 days
Boost	$49	75GB	Telstra	28 days
Boost	$59	105GB	Telstra	28 days
felix	$25	25GB	Vodafone	Monthly
felix	$30	50GB	Vodafone	Monthly
felix	$40	Unlimited (speed capped)	Vodafone	Monthly
Everyday Mobile (Woolworths)	$30	30GB + Data Bank	Telstra wholesale	30 days
Everyday Mobile (Woolworths)	$40 ($36 w/ Rewards)	70GB	Telstra wholesale	Monthly
Everyday Mobile (Woolworths)	$50 ($45 w/ Rewards)	110GB	Telstra wholesale	Monthly

Two things that matter more than the headline price:

• 28-day vs monthly. A "$28 per 28 days" plan bills 13 times a year, not 12. Boost's $39 plan is really about $508/year; felix's $30 monthly plan is $360/year for more data.
• Data rollover / Data Bank. Boost rolls unused data into your next recharge; Everyday Mobile banks up to 1,000GB. If your usage swings between semester and holidays, that's worth real money.

Which network should you actually be on?

There are only three real networks in Australia. Everyone else rents space on them.

Network	Coverage reality	Cheap resellers on it
Telstra	Best regional and rural coverage by a wide margin	Boost (full Telstra network), Everyday Mobile, ALDImobile
Optus	Strong in metro areas and along the east coast	amaysim, Coles Mobile, Catch Connect
Vodafone/TPG	Fine in cities and inner suburbs, weakest regionally	felix, Kogan Mobile, Lebara

Important detail most students miss: Boost is the only reseller with access to the full Telstra retail network. Other Telstra-based resellers use a smaller "wholesale" footprint. If you're doing a nursing or teaching placement in a regional town, that difference is the whole decision.

Getting a SIM as a new arrival

What you need to activate

• Your passport (photo page)
• Your visa grant or VEVO details
• An Australian address — your homestay, hostel or student accommodation is fine
• An email address and a form of payment (an overseas card works for most providers)

You do not need an Australian bank account, a TFN, or a credit check for prepaid.

eSIM before you fly

If your phone supports eSIM (iPhone XS and later, most recent Pixel/Samsung), you can buy and activate before you board. You land with a working Australian number for your bank appointment, your rental applications and your uni enrolment — instead of queuing at an airport kiosk.

Where to buy on day one

Where	Good for	Watch out for
Airport kiosks	Instant, staffed	Often tourist packs at poor value
Woolworths / Coles / Australia Post	Cheap starter SIMs, everywhere	Still needs online activation
JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks	Range of providers in one place	Upsell to postpaid
Provider website (eSIM)	Cheapest, activate before arrival	Needs an eSIM-capable phone

Prepaid vs postpaid for students

	Prepaid	Postpaid
Credit check	No	Yes
Contract	No	Usually 12–36 months if a handset is included
Overseas card accepted	Usually	Rarely
Cost control	Hard cap — you can't overspend	Bill shock possible
Switching providers	Any time	Exit fees if a handset is bundled

For almost every international student, prepaid is the right answer for at least the first year. Postpaid only makes sense once you have Australian credit history and you want a handset paid off monthly.

Calling home cheaply

Don't pay a carrier for international minutes you won't use.

• WhatsApp, Messenger, FaceTime and Telegram calls are free over Wi-Fi or your data — this is how most students call family.
• If you need to ring an actual landline overseas, check add-ons first: Everyday Mobile includes unlimited international calls to selected countries on some plans, and felix sells an international add-on rather than baking it into the price.
• Inbound calls from overseas are free to you — the caller pays.

Keeping your number when you switch

Porting is free and takes minutes. Buy the new SIM, choose "transfer my existing number" during activation, and enter your current number plus account details. Do not cancel your old plan first — cancelling releases the number and you lose it.

How much data do you actually need?

• On campus and at home most of the day, Wi-Fi everywhere: 20–30GB is plenty. $25–$30/month.
• Commuting, streaming on the train, Maps constantly: 50–70GB. $30–$40/month.
• No home internet, tethering your laptop: 100GB+ or unlimited. $50–$60/month — still cheaper than adding NBN.

Track your first month's actual usage in your provider's app, then downgrade. Most students overbuy data in their first semester and never revisit it.

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Verify before you buy. Australian prepaid pricing changes with promos every few months. Use this page to narrow to two or three options, then open the provider's own plans page (linked in the table above) and check the current price and inclusions.

Next: open an Australian bank account and work out your monthly budget.