Australia’s phone numbering system is refreshingly simple: four area codes for landlines (02, 03, 07, 08) and one prefix for all mobile phones (04). But this simplicity creates a problem for schools. There’s no safe, dedicated way for students, teachers, and staff to communicate using phones—especially for the millions of students under 18.

Our School Contact Initiative in the United States has a solution: create education-specific phone numbers using special two-digit codes that instantly identify whether someone is a teacher, staff member, or student. In America, we use a three-digit area code, Australia uses a two-digit area code format. It should be noted that Australia has a total population of approximately 27.5 million people as of March 2025. To put that in perspective, our state of California has a total population of approximately 40 million people.

The Problem With Current School Communication

Right now, Australian students and teachers typically use their personal mobile numbers for school-related contact. This creates several risks:

• Students can be reached by strangers on devices they use for schoolwork
• Teachers must share personal phone numbers with parents and students
• Schools have no standardized emergency communication system
• There’s no easy way to verify if a call or text actually comes from a legitimate school source

A dedicated education numbering system would separate school communication from personal life, making everyone safer while improving how schools operate.

How the System Would Work

The proposal introduces new two-digit “area codes” reserved exclusively for education. These wouldn’t replace anyone’s existing mobile number—they’d work like a school email address, giving each person an official school-issued number.

Here’s how the codes would be assigned:

• 11 – Teachers
• 22 – School staff (administrators, counselors, support personnel)
• 33, 44, 55, 77, 88, 99 – Students

Each person would receive a number formatted like this:

• 11-1234-5678 (teacher)
• 33-9876-5432 (student)

Because these numbers aren’t tied to geography, a student moving from Sydney to Brisbane would keep the same school number throughout their education.

Six Key Benefits

Instant caller identification
When your phone rings, you immediately know whether it’s a teacher, student, or staff member based on the first two digits.

Privacy protection
Teachers and students can communicate without exposing their personal mobile numbers.

Better spam and harassment prevention
The system can automatically filter who’s allowed to contact student numbers, blocking unsolicited adult communications by default.

Cleaner digital footprints
A student’s education number expires after graduation, reducing permanent digital traces from childhood.

Emergency readiness
During lockdowns, natural disasters, or bushfire-related closures, schools have a verified, unified way to reach everyone.

Continuity across moves
Students and teachers keep the same number even when changing schools or relocating to different states.

It Fits Australia’s Current System

Australia already uses non-geographic numbers for special services (like 1300 and 1800 numbers). Adding education-specific codes would work within the existing framework:

• No conflict with current area codes or mobile networks
• Simple, memorable two-digit prefixes
• Scalable across all school types—public, private, Catholic, and independent
• Manageable by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which already regulates phone numbering

A Model for Digital Safety

With growing concerns about youth safety, AI-driven scams, and the erosion of boundaries between personal and school life, Australia has a chance to lead globally. The country already excels at creating smart national systems—Medicare, myGov, and more. An education communication layer would be a natural next step.

Students could receive their school contact number in primary school and use it through graduation. Teachers would have a professional number that follows them throughout their career. Schools would finally have a modern, safe, verifiable communication network.

Making It Happen

Implementation would require coordination between ACMA, the Department of Education, mobile carriers, and school systems. But the outcome would benefit millions: clearer, safer, more functional communication for Australia’s entire education system.

If Australia adopts this model, it would become the first country in the world to create officially recognized, safety-focused communication identities for teachers, staff, and students. That’s the kind of innovation worth pursuing.