What you need to know
- There are really three number families plus one scheme: 13 (a short 6-digit premium number), 1300, 1800, and smartnumbers (memorable 13, 1300 or 1800 numbers acquired through the ACMA).
- On a 1800 number the call is free to the caller; on 13 and 1300 the caller pays a set rate and the business pays the rest.
- A smartnumber is not a fifth number type. It is a specific memorable 13, 1300 or 1800 number, including phonewords like 13 VETS or 1300 FLIGHT.
- You acquire the rights to a smartnumber, not freehold ownership, and they are subject to the ACMA Annual Numbering Charge.
- 1300 suits most small businesses; 1800 suits support and high-value lines; 13 only earns its cost when a very short number is core to your brand.
- Whichever you pick, it is only a front door. You still need call tracking underneath to know which marketing made the phone ring.
Australia has four kinds of inbound business number, and most owners only ever weigh up one or two. In plain terms: a 13 number is a short 6-digit premium number that reads as a big, national brand; a 1300 number is a 10-digit national number where the caller pays a local-call rate and the business pays the rest; an 1800 number is free to the caller and paid for entirely by the business; and a smartnumber is not a separate type at all, but a specific, memorable 13, 1300 or 1800 number you acquire the rights to through the government regulator. This is the full map, and how to pick the right one without overpaying.
13 numbers: the short, premium front door
A 13 number is the shortest of the lot, six digits in total, like 13 12 34. That brevity is the whole point. It reads as an established, national operation, which is why airlines, banks and big retailers use them. The trade-off is cost and scarcity. There are far fewer 13 combinations than 1300 or 1800 numbers, and the genuinely memorable ones carry a premium acquisition charge. For most small and mid-size businesses a 13 number is more than you need; it earns its keep only when a very short, instantly recallable number is central to how you advertise.
1300 numbers: the sensible default for most businesses
A 1300 number is a 10-digit national number, and for the average Australian business it is the practical default for a main line. On a 1300, the caller pays a set rate, historically the price of a local call from a landline, and your business picks up the rest. It is cheaper to run than an 1800 because the caller shares the cost, and it gives you one national number that stays with you if you move premises or change carriers. If you are deciding between this and an 1800, our deeper guide to 1300 vs 1800 numbers walks through the cost logic in full.
1800 numbers: free to the caller, paid by you
An 1800 number is genuinely free for the person calling, and your business pays the whole cost. The ACMA notes that calls to 1800 numbers are generally free, though some mobile providers may still charge, so it is worth confirming. Because there is zero cost to the caller, an 1800 removes every last barrier to picking up the phone. That makes it a strong fit for support lines, complaints lines, and high-value sales where you never want a prospect to hesitate over a few cents. Plenty of businesses run a 1300 for sales and an 1800 for support. For the detail, see our explainer on 1800 numbers in Australia.
Smartnumbers: the memorable ones, and who controls them
This is where most explanations get muddled, so here is the clean version. A smartnumber is not a fourth type of number. It is the term the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) uses for a specific, memorable 13, 1300 or 1800 number. According to the ACMA, a smartnumber might be a pattern like 1300 222 222, or it might spell a word on the keypad, a phoneword such as 13 VETS (13 8387) or 1300 FLIGHT (1300 354 448).
You acquire smartnumbers through the ACMA numbering system (run on its behalf at thenumberingsystem.com.au). Historically the most sought-after numbers were sold by auction, the last ACMA smartnumber auction was back in 2015, but today you acquire them through that numbering system rather than a live auction. There is a one-off allocation charge priced by how memorable the number is, from a standard tier up to platinum for the most distinctive patterns, plus an ongoing Annual Numbering Charge.
One point worth being honest about: you do not own a smartnumber outright. You hold the rights to use it while it is connected to a phone service, and for three years after it is disconnected, after which it returns to the pool. Holders can trade a smartnumber or licence someone else to run a service on it. So a smartnumber is best thought of as a memorability upgrade to a 13, 1300 or 1800 line, not a different kind of phone number.
A smartnumber buys you memorability at the front door. It does not buy you attribution. Knowing the caller dialled 13 SOLAR is not the same as knowing which ad sent them there.
How to choose without overpaying
The decision is simpler than the marketing around it suggests. Start with who pays: if you want calling to feel completely free, especially on a support or high-value line, lean 1800. If a shared-cost national number is fine and you want lower running costs, a 1300 covers most businesses. Reach for a 13 only when an ultra-short number is genuinely core to your brand and advertising, because you pay for that brevity. Then decide on memorability: a plain 1300 is cheap and does the job, while a smartnumber or phoneword costs more upfront but can lift recall on radio, vehicle signage and print where people cannot click a link. If you are mapping numbers to regions, our guide to Australian phone area codes is a useful companion. The honest rule of thumb: pay for memorability only where it changes whether someone remembers to call.
The job none of these numbers can do
Here is the trap that catches good businesses. A 13, 1300, 1800 or smartnumber makes you look national and routes calls to your line. It does not tell you which marketing channel drove each call. Put one memorable number on your website, your Google Ads, your vehicle and your letterbox flyer, and every call lands on the same number, leaving you back to guessing which spend actually worked.
That gap is exactly what call tracking closes. With local tracked numbers and dynamic number insertion, each channel gets its own number and every call is attributed to its source, with the data flowing into Google Ads as an offline conversion. Your 13, 1300 or smartnumber is the front door; tracked numbers tell you which street the visitor came from. If you want the mechanics, our explainer on how call tracking works covers it, or see how Gibson does call tracking. The clean setup for most Australian businesses is one memorable public-facing number with tracked numbers behind your marketing, configured so the attribution is right from day one.
Picking the right inbound number and wiring it for measurement is one of those small decisions that quietly shapes a year of marketing data. If you want it set up properly and want to see what AI and clean attribution could do across the rest of your business, Get a once-off AI + Data Assessment. We plan it, structure your data, and show you exactly what AI can do for your business.
Frequently asked questions
What is a smartnumber?
A smartnumber is a specific, memorable 13, 1300 or 1800 number that you acquire the rights to through the ACMA numbering system. It can be a pattern like 1300 222 222 or a phoneword that spells something on the keypad, such as 13 VETS (13 8387) or 1300 FLIGHT (1300 354 448). Smartnumber is the term the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) uses for the scheme; it is not a separate number type sitting outside 13, 1300 and 1800.
Is a 13 or a 1300 number better?
A 13 number is a shorter 6-digit number that reads as a large, established brand, but the premium ones are far more expensive to acquire and 13 phonewords are limited to short words. A 1300 number is 10 digits, cheaper to set up, and suits almost every small and mid-size business. For most Australian businesses a 1300 is the sensible default; a 13 only earns its cost if a very short, memorable number is core to your brand.
Do I own a smartnumber?
Not outright. Through the ACMA numbering system you acquire the rights to use a smartnumber, not freehold ownership. You keep those rights while the number is connected to a phone service, and for 3 years after it is disconnected, after which it returns to the pool. Holders can trade a smartnumber or licence someone else to run a service on it, and smartnumbers are subject to the Annual Numbering Charge.
Who pays for the call on a 13, 1300 or 1800 number?
On a 1800 number the call is free to the caller and the business pays the full cost. On a 13 or 1300 number the caller pays a set rate (historically the price of a local call from a landline) and the business pays the rest. Charges from mobiles can differ and are set by the caller's phone provider, so the experience is not always identical to a landline.
Does a smartnumber replace call tracking?
No. A 13, 1300, 1800 or smartnumber is your public front door, but on its own it tells you nothing about which ad, page or flyer drove each call. For marketing attribution you still need call tracking with dynamic number insertion underneath, so each channel gets its own tracked number. The memorable front-door number and the tracked numbers do two different jobs.
