Where to Buy a Prepaid Australia SIM Card

You can buy a prepaid Australia SIM card in the arrivals hall of every big airport, in supermarkets and post offices, and in operator shops in every city, but where you buy it changes the price and the coverage you get. This guide lists the airport stores city by city, explains the identity check every activation needs, compares Telstra, Optus and Vodafone with the cheaper brands that run on their networks, and sets out which of our eSIMs cover Australia if you would rather land with data working. Our plans for the country are on the Australia eSIM page.

Where to buy: airports, supermarkets and shops

• Sydney Airport: Vodafone, Optus and Telstra stores in T1 International. The terminal opens early, but each shop sets its own hours.
• Melbourne Airport: in Terminal 2 arrivals, the Welcome Centre sells Telstra SIMs, Optus and Vodafone have stores, and there is a 24-hour Optus vending machine for late flights.
• Brisbane and Perth: Vodafone and Optus stores in the international terminals.
• In town: Coles, Woolworths and Australia Post sell starter kits, and Telstra, Optus and Vodafone have shops in every city centre.

Two things to know. Airport prices run about AU$10 to 15 above the same plan at Coles or Woolworths. And city shops often close around 5 or 6pm, earlier at weekends, so an evening arrival can leave you without a SIM until the morning.

The identity check

Since a 2017 ACMA determination, every prepaid activation in Australia needs an identity check. The provider records your name, date of birth and address and verifies who you are; for a visitor the passport is the simplest way, and Telstra lists an international passport among its accepted documents. In a shop the staff do it for you. If you buy a kit in a supermarket and activate online, expect to scan your passport in an app, and sometimes to record a short video.

Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and the cheaper brands

Telstra has the widest coverage and the highest prices; it is the network for road trips and the outback. Optus covers the cities and the main tourist routes well, and Vodafone, owned by TPG Telecom, is fine in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane but has the weakest coverage away from them. Cheaper brands run on the same towers: Boost Mobile on the full Telstra network, Aldi Mobile on Telstra's smaller wholesale network, amaysim on Optus, and Lebara and Felix on Vodafone. If you were searching for where to buy a TPG SIM card, note that TPG itself sells monthly plans only.

What it costs

Prices quoted for 2026: a Telstra Pre-Paid 28-day plan from AU$44 for 20GB; Boost Mobile AU$39 for 28 days on the same network; amaysim AU$25 for 15GB; Aldi Mobile AU$28 for 12GB over 30 days. These are recharge prices; promotions and bonus data change often. Optus's Traveller plan, which older guides recommend, stopped taking new activations from 30 September 2026.

Our eSIMs for Australia

Our Global64 10GB eSIM is $10 for seven days, the Global64 20GB eSIM $15 for 14 days and the Global64 50GB eSIM $35 for 30 days, all starting on first use, with hotspot and 5G where available, in 64 countries including Australia and New Zealand. If you want a number, the Vodafone Travel eSIM is $26.60 for 25GB over 30 days from purchase with unlimited local calls on a UK number, and the Three Travel 6GB eSIM is $19.27 for 30 days with unlimited calls to UK numbers. The Orange World 20GB eSIM is $28 for 20GB over 30 days with a French +33 number, 15 minutes and 50 texts. None needs an ID check. The O2 SMS Only eSIM at $8 a month keeps verification texts arriving on a private UK number.

Side by side

Cities, the coast and the outback

In Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth every network is fast. Along the Great Ocean Road the reports on Optus conflict: one travel writer found the signal increasingly unreliable around the Twelve Apostles, while another traveller found it flawless the whole way. In the outback Telstra is often the only signal. If your trip is a long drive, check the coverage map for the route, consider a Telstra or Boost SIM for that part, and download offline maps before you set off.

Our recommendation

For a city-based trip, install the Global64 20GB or 50GB eSIM before you fly and skip the airport queue; it also covers New Zealand if you continue there. For a road trip through the outback, buy a Telstra or Boost Mobile SIM with your passport, ideally at a supermarket rather than the airport. Set-up steps are in our eSIM installation guide, and the plans for the country are on the Australia eSIM page.