The per-minute truth
Toll Free Number Cost Per Minute
A toll-free call costs the caller nothing from a fixed line, which means every minute lands on the business bill. Here is what those minutes actually cost on our current plans — from 5c to 35c per minute, billed by the second.
- Rates from 5c to 35c/min
- Charged per second
- Inclusions absorb the first slice
Per-minute cost questions
What is the per-minute rate on a toll-free 1800 number?
On our current plans, fixed-line calls bill from 5c to 15c per minute and mobile-originated calls from 16c to 35c per minute, depending on the plan. Charges are calculated per second against those per-minute rates.
Why do mobile calls cost the business more?
Mobile termination is priced higher than fixed-line termination across the inbound market, so plans bill mobile-originated calls at a premium — roughly double to triple the fixed-line rate on entry plans.
Do I pay the per-minute rate on every call?
Only beyond your inclusions. Cap plans bundle a monthly slice of fixed-line and mobile minutes; the per-minute rate applies to call time past that bundle.
Is there a flagfall per call?
On the domestic 1300 and 1800 plans the billing is per second of call time against the published rates. The published 15c flagfall applies to international destinations, which are a separate special-case table.
"Free call" is a description of the caller's bill, not the call's cost. Every minute of a toll-free 1800 call is paid for by the business that receives it, and the per-minute rate is the number that decides whether the format is affordable for your call volume. Here is the full rate picture on our current plans — and how the inclusions mean most calls never touch the headline rates at all.
The rate table
| Plan | Monthly fee | Fixed line | Mobile | Inclusions | |---|---|---|---|---| | Prepaid | $10 | 15c/min | 35c/min | $5 call credit | | Light | $15 | 12c/min | 32c/min | $5 call credit | | Cap39 | $39 | 10c/min | 30c/min | 250 fixed + 100 mobile minutes | | Cap79 | $79 | 7c/min | 25c/min | 750 fixed + 300 mobile minutes | | High Volume | $99 | 5c/min | 16c/min | $99 call credit |
Two billing rules sit behind the table. First, charges are calculated per second and the rates are expressed per minute — a 40-second call costs two-thirds of the minute rate, not the full minute. Second, all pricing is ex GST. The live table, with the 1300 equivalents alongside, is on the pricing page.
Why the mobile column is the one to watch
Mobile-originated calls bill at a premium everywhere in the inbound market — roughly double to triple the fixed-line rate on the entry plans here. For a business whose callers are mostly on mobiles (trades, emergency services, delivery), the mobile column effectively sets the budget. Two levers pull it down: plans with dedicated mobile-minute inclusions, and higher tiers where the mobile rate itself drops — from 35c on Prepaid to 16c on High Volume. The volume-profile logic behind that choice is explained in toll-free number cost for business.
How inclusions change the real cost
The per-minute rate is a ceiling, not a routine charge. On Cap39, the first 250 fixed-line minutes and 100 mobile minutes each month are covered by the $39 fee — a business inside those inclusions pays $39, full stop. The rate table matters for the minutes beyond, which is why estimating your monthly call profile is worth ten minutes before choosing a plan:
- Estimate fixed-line minutes and mobile minutes separately — they bill at different rates and draw from different inclusion buckets.
- Pick the plan whose inclusions cover the bulk of the estimate, so the per-second tail is small.
- Re-check after the first full month of real reporting data, not the estimate.
The month-level view — what each plan costs when the dust settles — is in toll-free number cost per month, the complete format guide is at toll-free number cost, and the overall cost structure, including the caller's side, is in 1800 number cost.
Where per-minute billing does not apply
Two boundaries keep this table honest. Calls the business makes out — including to international destinations — follow separate tables, with international destinations carrying a 15c flagfall plus per-country rates. And the caller's side of a toll-free call is not billed per minute at all: from an Australian fixed line it is free, and from a mobile it follows the caller's own plan. The caller-side story is in how to call an 1800 number.
Rates that scale down with volume
Get a toll-free number from $10 a month
Free for your callers from fixed lines, with per-second billing and plan inclusions that absorb the first slice of call time.