Between studying, working, paying rent, and finding time to make your student days “the best time of your life”, you'd hope someone would give you a break and a bit of a discount.
Sadly, there aren't as many telcos offering cheaper plans for tertiary students as there once were. However, these days, telcos are choosing to discount plans across the board, so you don't even need a special ID to nab a bargain.
Even better, there are plenty of affordable SIM-only and prepaid plans from smaller providers, which can end up being cheaper than plans with student discounts, anyway.
Check out the best student deals we know about, as well as the best mobile deals available to everyone. We're sure you'll find a plan that works for your budget.
Optus student discounts
Optus has a single discounted plan for students.
The 'Optus Choice Plus Student Plan' is discounted to $39 per month (33% off) for the first 12 months, after which it returns to the ongoing price of $59 per month. The plan comes with 100GB.
You forfeit the discount if you change the plan or cancel within those 12 months.
Students need to validate their student email when signing up online, or provide a university/tertiary education ID card, student visa information, or university acceptance email if signing up in store. Some exclusions do apply, so make sure you read all the terms and conditions on the Optus Student Hub before you opt in.
At the discounted rate, Optus' student plan is clearly better than any of its regular SIM-only plans. After the first 12 months, it certainly isn't bad, but the math gets messier. The student plan is only $4 per month more than Optus' 50GB plan and has twice as much data. It also comes with unlimited international talk and text to 35 destinations, which could be useful for some students. But if you're not using all that data or taking advantage of international calls, it isn't worth spending more for features you don't use.
Here are Optus’ regular SIM-only plans:
Vodafone student discounts
Vodafone is currently offering students a flat $14 per month off each of its three SIM-only plans, plus double data. This discount lasts for the first 12 months with Vodafone, after which students go back to paying the regular price. The double data offer lasts for as long as a student stays connected to the plan.
Students also get unlimited standard international calls to 37 destinations on Vodafone's "Small" student plan. Customers normally need to opt for a "Medium" plan or better to get unlimited international calls on Vodafone.
These deals are only available for new customers with a valid student email and run until January 22.
Here are regular Vodafone's SIM-only plans. The discount below is the same as Vodafone is offering to students, but the student plans have twice the data.
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#1
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Vodafone
$45.00/mth
Min. cost $45
Link not supplied
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#2
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Vodafone
$50.00/mth
Min. cost $50
Link not supplied
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#3
|
Vodafone
$55.00/mth
Min. cost $55
Link not supplied
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Telstra mobile plans
At the time of writing, Telstra doesn't have student discounts or student mobile plans (the same goes for its subsidiaries Belong and Boost Mobile). That said, Australia's largest telco does have some affordable prepaid plans available to anyone.
Here are some Telstra prepaid plans that students might want to check out:
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#1
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Telstra
$44.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
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#2
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Telstra
$54.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
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#3
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Telstra
$64.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
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Belong student plans
As a sub-brand of Telstra, Belong is a telco that operates on the Telstra network. Its coverage footprint is slightly smaller than that of its parent company, but this only really matters in some rural and regional areas.
While Belong doesn't offer student discounts for its SIM-only plans, they might still be on the list for consideration.
Not only are they on the cheaper side of things (compared to the major telcos), Belong banks your unused data month-to-month and lets eligible subscribers share their saved-up data with each other. Given not everyone in your household is likely to use data at the same rate throughout a given month, data sharing can be a useful way of keeping overall costs down.
Here are Belong's SIM-only plans:
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Belong
$34.00/mth
Min. cost $34
Link not supplied
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Boost Mobile student plans
Boost Mobile is Telstra's other sub-brand, and the only other provider to have access to the full Telstra network. This can make it a good option for students in remote areas.
While Boost doesn't have any student deals, it is more affordable than Telstra itself. Boost's 365-day long-expiry plans can be especially good value.
Here are Boost's plans:
amaysim student plans
amaysim no longer offers student plans, but its plans are another decent option for students. amaysim is a sub-brand of Optus and so, runs on its network, but its plans come at a lower cost.
Like Belong, amaysim also offers unlimited data banking. Here are amaysim's prepaid mobile plans:
The (actual) best phone plans for students
Even though there are scant few student discounts to be found on mobile plans these days, there's much more money to be saved by looking at regular plans from smaller providers.
If you're happy to bring your own phone to a plan, there are hundreds of cheap SIM-only and prepaid plans on the market. They just aren't labelled 'student' plans because anyone can get them.
And because all small Australian mobile providers offer services on the Telstra, Optus or Vodafone networks, you can expect decent coverage from any plan you choose, depending on your area.
These are the cheapest SIM-only and prepaid plans from our database of 28 providers:
If you didn't find what you were looking for on these discounted plans, check out our cheap SIM-only plans and cheap mobile plans comparison guides to discover other affordable options.
Alex Angove-Plumb
Digital Content Editor
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