Hi All, Iām still waiting on Optus to provide more details, still working with the TIO too. Nothing else to report on at the moment.
Here is some lite reading while we wait.
āTrust the foxes guarding the hen houseā ā ACMA.
I hadnāt heard of ACCAN before, so that was a learninā experience for me.
I read (I think it was elsewhere, hopefully not repeating something from here) that the Telcos were using the āstolen IMEI blocking listā as a method of ensuring legitimate (as opposed to stolen) phones were being blocked across all providers, and getting it off of that list was also a mind sore.
Hi all,
I need some support about FP compatibility in Australia.
I read in this and other threads about problems related to the IMEI blacklist that should prevent people from using FP3 after 3G network shutdown but itās not clear to me what is the current situation for FP5 and FP6.
Can Australians, or people coming there for fun/work, use FP5 and FP6 or theyāre blacklisted? If they can, are they also able to make emergency calls? Is there any difference, related to this problem, among operators (some might be more compatible than othersā¦)?
Thanks.
Ciao,
Max
Itās complicated, but boiled down to a quick summary, Vodafone (AU) is the only carrier that currently allows an FP5 (I donāt know the FP6) onto its network (I currently use an FP5 on the network, so speaking from direct experience). The phones are blacklisted on the other networks, which I believe means that you canāt even place emergency calls with those carriers.
I do currently have a āweirdā* voicemail issue with Vodafone, and a support case opened, but I donāt think itās specific to the FairPhone as my wife has the same issue with her Samsung (she ported after me, and weāre both recent ports). Vodafone āCareā have been the opposite of stellar in trying to fix this issue; itās my third ticket open with them, and now theyāve gone silent.
* - Basically, no one from a Telstra landline appears to be able to leave voicemail, and donāt even hear the greet message; after the call is diverted, they just get ādead airā. If the mobile is switched off (i.e. not connected to the network), the caller gets the dead air immediately.
This part is incorrect. The blacklisting doesnāt impact emergency camp-on. If it did, Vodafone would be obliged to blacklist FP5 as well.
Interesting, and happy to be wrong. I have been mildly impressed by Vodafoneās extended coverage since I last looked at them seriously (being a semi-rural dweller), but the tech support has knocked them back down a peg or several. I may not have been out of range yet to see the āEmergency Calls Onlyā banner. I did think there was an issue with Telstraās camping that prevented emergency calls, but I havenāt been able to back that up with citations for a while now, despite looking (the memory was that there was something slightly different about Telstraās network that prevented legitimate emergency usage, but thatās a lot of supposition under the bridge, and my memory definitely isnāt what it used to be).
Iām using a FP6 on the Optus network and I have not experienced any issues specific to the FP. I accept that it might be blocked at some point in the future, but its currently showing as enabled for Telstra as well as Optus.
Hi All,
This is not good news. I finally spoke with someone from the TIO. Long story short they canāt help me get any more information I need from Optus and Optus has ignored my calls and emails.
However I found out the TIO is logging similar complaints and they have another team that compiles the information, which they pass onto the government. So they are sort of trying to flight for the consumers.
Also James Parker who started this partition, which was previously linked. Had updated the partition, with the below information and other content if your interested in how this is all playing out.
Department of Infrastructure (Communications) officially opened the Public Consultation for the āTriple Zero Legislative and Regulatory Reviewā which was formally established by Minister Wells in March this year.
"Have your say - Triple Zero Legislative and Regulatory Review
https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/triple-zero-legislative-and-regulatory-review
Submissions close on 23 June 2026!"
James is also going to post a template (hopefully by this weekend) for people to use, if theyāre unsure what to say.
@dt90125 - I hadnāt heard of the ACCAN either, short of calling them, Iām not sure they can help individuals too much, they mostly point at going to the TIO.
@mpolito1969 - you can look at either Telstra or Optus website which have a phone compatibly test, Vodafone does not have one. Otherwise look at this document which has user driven data. Fairphone Devices - Network Support Table | Is this Phone Blocked? - 4G/5G Device Blocking Checker
Thanks Sir_Crispy, Iām acting as a bridge between this forum and some Australians that would like to better understand whatās the situation for Fairphone there.
Iām passing your information too, many thanks.
Ciao,
Max
Itās annoying that despite the SMS received from Vodafone, the Fairphone still isnāt listed in Vodafoneās Approved Devices list, which Vodafone Support refer to as their canonical supported phone list. Iāve had to have the same āspirited discussionā with VS that āyes, I know the phone isnāt listed, but I also have this SMS saying it isā.
Itās all fun and games on the bleeding edge, until you lose a limb.
Iām looking at replacing my existing FP4 with a FP6 on the Optus network. Iāve not had any problems with my FP4 on Amaysim (a reseller of Optus) but as itās battery is dieing and I canāt run purchase a new battery in Australia Iām contemplating upgrading to the latest FP6.
However given the comments on the forum Iām hesitate to consider upgrading. Any word on whether the FP6 is supported now and into the future in Australia?
i believe that the fp6 is working fine (Iāve not heard of any issues). itās the fp5 thatās had all the problems
not sure youāll get an fp6 into the country tho. i ordered one through amazon and it got blocked at customs so in the end i had to cancel the order and get a refund. and i know someone else here had the same experience
you might be able to use a forward servicing instead, but you can probably just do that to get a new battery if youāre otherwise happy with the fp4, and youāre more likely to get a bare battery through customs than a whole new phone
good luck 
let me know if you do order one and are successful
I think we can still get a FP6 delivered to Australia through Clove Tech in the UK: thatās how weāve got our FP4s. (We now have 3 working successfully)
Our FP4s are still working fine: we just canāt get the official, ethically sourced batteries sent here. Really frustrating when you know the batteries are made in China and shipped to Europe for sale but we canāt get them here. The phones themselves are working fine including the occasional screen replacement.
Given the recent discussions about FPs getting blocked for use in Australia Iām really hesitant to risk purchasing another one. I am currently researching other ethical mobile phone options but would prefer to stick with FP.
With new batteries I canāt see how I canāt get another 3~4 years out of our phones which is really in keeping with the ethics behind FP.
FP if youāre listening: how can you support your Australian FP users more?
Pinging @Fairphone_CM .
Actually, this has been ticking away in my subconscious for a while now, and only just bubbled up. If the other networks allow emergency camp-on, then why was FP5 blocked on the grounds of being unable to use same emergency services? āWe wonāt allow you to use 000 as a customer, but as a competitorās customer feel freeā?
Touche. How many FP users do we think there are here in Australia?
āThere are dozens of us! Dozens!ā
Well, that inhabit this forum anyway. I suspect there would have had to have been a āstatistically significant numberā to appear on Telstra and Optusā radar to be blocked.
Because thereās different attitudes among the networks about how to determine whether a phone can successfully use the camp on.
For a phone to be sold in Australia, it has to have testing done to show it can do emergency camp on in a range of circumstances. That hasnāt been done for any fairphone, because theyāre not sold in Australia. So whatās a network to do with a phone that has a theoretical capability to emergency call via volte and camp on to networks, but nobody has proven it via an accredited testing provider? Ban it and your customers come at you with the theory. Allow it and the government comes at you with the absence of testing.