Call forwarding codes for Australian mobiles
Last checked 1 August 2026
The dial codes that set, check and cancel call forwarding on an Australian mobile — plus the two formats Australian networks use, and the order to do things in so you don't undo your own work.
Conditional vs unconditional
Unconditional forwarding sends every call somewhere else. Your phone never rings. That's not what you want.
Conditional forwarding only fires when you don't answer, you're engaged, or you're out of range. Your phone rings normally and you can pick up like always — the forward is the safety net. That's the one worth setting up.
The codes
Dialled from the handset the calls come to, like a phone number:
| Check status | *#61# — tells you what unanswered calls currently do |
| Turn off | ##61# — cancels no-answer forwarding |
| Clear conditional | ##004# — clears no-answer, busy and unreachable diversions |
| Clear everything | ##002# — wipes every diversion on the service |
Setting one: two dialects
Setting a forward takes the destination number and a ring time in seconds. Australian networks split into two formats, and the wrong one usually just errors rather than doing damage:
**61*NUMBER*SECONDS#
Telstra, Boost, ALDI Mobile — the Telstra-network format.
**61*NUMBER**SECONDS#
Optus, amaysim, Vodafone, felix, Kogan, Lebara — note the double star before the seconds.
Ring time has to be one of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 seconds — the standard only allows multiples of five up to thirty. 20 seconds is the usual choice: long enough to get to your phone if you're near it, short enough that the caller isn't left hanging.
Do voicemail first
Turn carrier voicemail off before you set a forward, never after.
Voicemail is itself a conditional diversion — it's what your unanswered calls are already pointed at. If it's on, it takes the call and your forward never fires. And several of the codes that clear voicemail (##002# and the carrier equivalents) clear every diversion on the service, so running one after you've set your forward wipes the forward as well.
Things that quietly answer for you
Voicemail isn't the only thing competing for an unanswered call:
- Call Catcher on the Vodafone network (felix, Lebara, Kogan) — answers and texts you the caller's number. Turn it off with
121600. On some brands the code sold as “voicemail off” switches this on. - Message2Txt / Message2Text on the Telstra network — records a short message and texts it to you. It still answers the call.
- Your handset. Google's Take a Message on newer Pixels and Apple's Call Screening on newer iPhones answer calls on the device, before the network's ring timer runs out. These can arrive in a software update.
Undoing it
##61# cancels no-answer forwarding and gives you your unanswered calls back. If you want voicemail again after that, each carrier has its own way of switching it back on — the carrier guides cover both directions.