Most people have a telephone in their residences. Telephones can be installed easily and quickly. 

Telephone Directory
A telephone directory is very useful. The simplest version is the one published by Telstra Telephone. It contains the name, address, and telephone number of each telephone "subscriber." In addition, it includes (on the inside front cover) emergency telephone numbers, instructions for making various kinds of telephone calls, overseas calls and general information. You will also find blue pages with the telephone numbers of government offices (local, state, federal). Next are telephone numbers for residences.  

The Yellow Pages Directory, you will find the telephone numbers of all local services and businesses, classified alphabetically according to the kind of service or business involved. The Yellow Pages also include some glossy pages with "community information" (about the history of the Gold Coast area, and other topics), information about area recreational facilities, and maps of the Gold Coast and surrounding towns. 

Public Telephones (called "pay phones" or "phone booths")
Pick up the receiver, deposit amount of money the instructions on the telephone say is needed - 40 cents or more in the Gold Coast area - wait for the dial tone (a humming sound), then dial your number. User guides are availble in phone booths.

Mobile Telephones (Cellphones)
Most Australian mobile telephones are on the GSM network, although some are on CDMA. This means that some overseas phones will work in Australia. Those from Japan do not.

• CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access  A rival to TDMA in the Americas, this standard was developed by QualComm, from which providers must license its use.  CDMA carriers in the US include Sprint PCS (which oddly enough started as a GSM carrier), Alltel, and Verizon.  There are now CDMA networks elsewhere in the world, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Guatemala, Israel, South Korea, Peru, Russia, Venezuela and Zambia. This offers some international roaming capability, though nothing like the near-global coverage available from GSM carriers.  In the purest technical sense, CDMA is more efficient than GSM.  In actual application, GSM has such widespread following and rich features to keep CDMA from being much of a threat.  However, it'sentirely possible that CDMA will contribute to the eventual demise of TDMA in the Americas, though that time is likely to be many years away for the US and Canada, and much longer for Latin America.
• GSM - Global System for Mobiletelephones  One of the few mobile phone standards with a self-explanatory name that is actually more or less accurate.  It's the closest thing there is to an "international" standard -- GSM systems are used in nearly 200 countries (with 600 million subscribers) worldwide, from Europe (where the standard originated) throughout Africa, Asia and Australia.  Coverage in these areas is for the most part excellent; in some cities the use of picocells even makes it possible to use phones on moving subway trains.  Though a latecomer to North America, GSM is now making some substantial gains there, though with a different flavor than used elsewhere.  Originally utilizing the 900 Mhz spectrum, GSM providers in parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia later added additional capacity at 1800 Mhz.  In North America, however, GSM service operates at 850 Mhz or 1900 Mhz.  The good news for world travelers is that most cell phone manufacturers offer dual-band (900 and 1900 Mhz), tri-band (900, 1800 and 1900 Mhz) and a growing number of quad-band (850, 900, 1800 and 1900 Mhz) phones that will work practically anywhere GSM systems are found.  While growing rapidly, in the US and Canada GSM service can be scarce outside of larger urban areas.  In Latin America, coverage currently exists only in parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Paraguay and Peru (all at GSM 1900) along with Venezuela (GSM 900) and Brazil (GSM 1800).  Other notable non-GSM countries include South Korea and Japan.  GSM is a feature-rich technology that includes fax capability and SMS (short messaging service).  Most providers offer e-mail to SMS gateways, making it possible to receive flight updates and breaking news alerts over the phone.  Many providers also offer quick connect data services through ISDN lines, and the latest generation GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service) promises high-speed "always on" data connections much faster than the traditional 9600 bps.