How to Cancel an Optus Plan or Internet Service (2026)

Optus has no cancel button. The path is My Optus app or My Account > Message us, or call 133 937, which Optus's contact page lists as available 24 hours. Optus sets out the process at optus.com.au/support/answer?id=1388. The order you do things in decides whether you keep your mobile number. Sign up with the new telco and let them port it before you cancel, because ACMA's rule is that "you cannot port a disconnected number as the number is no longer active". Cancel first and the number sits in quarantine for 6 to 12 months and is no longer yours.

Cancel an Optus mobile plan

There is no online cancellation for a postpaid mobile service. Optus's own page says: "If you wish to cancel, please Message or Call us."

1. Check your plan details first. In the My Optus app, open the Account tab, then My Plan, then Your Plan info. Optus lists what you will see there, including "Plan term & contract end date", "Cost to cancel" and "Device plan details". Screenshot it before you talk to anyone.
2. If you are keeping the number, port it instead of cancelling. Sign up with the new telco, choose to keep your number, and give them your Optus details. Completing the port is what ends the Optus mobile service, which is why you should never cancel first: ACMA warns "you cannot port a disconnected number as the number is no longer active". A mobile port usually takes about 3 hours, according to ACMA.
3. If you are not keeping the number, message or call. Message through the My Optus app or My Account, or call 133 937. From overseas, Optus publishes +61 2 8082 5678.
4. Get the four things Optus says it will tell you. Optus commits to advising you when the service will be disconnected, whether there are cancellation fees or device payout charges and when they will be billed, any impacts such as losing your number, and whether equipment has to come back.
5. Ask for a reference number and written confirmation. You will need both if billing continues.

Prepaid is different:

There is nothing to cancel. Your recharge expires on its own, and the Optus Flex Plus Critical Information Summary states it "will expire in the time frames specified above, or on your next recharge (whichever is earlier)". The charge that catches people is AutoRecharge. Optus says: "If you need to cancel or change your AutoRecharge, you'll need to do so before payment for your next AutoRecharge is taken. You can manage your AutoRecharge via My Optus app, or by SMS (text 'MENU' to 9999) if you have a saved payment method."

Cancel Optus internet

nbn and 5G Home Internet both cancel through the same channel: message in the My Optus app or My Account, or call 133 937. The published terms for both say the same thing: "You can cancel your plan at any time by notifying us."

Optus does not publish a notice period for cancelling a current month-to-month internet plan. It publishes a minimum term of one month and no refund of the part-month you have already paid for, which is covered below.

Moving house has its own path:

Book a relocation at Optus's moving-home form rather than cancelling. Optus says: "When you request a relocation, the old service will be ceased on the date that you advise / agree upon", and that when you submit it online "you'll have the option to disconnect your service up to two weeks before the connection date at your new address". If Optus cannot serve your new address, Optus says: "If your new address isn't serviceable for any type of Optus Home or Business Internet we'll cancel your service with no cancellation fees, but you may need to return your modem or device if it's still under a device payment plan."

If you are switching to another nbn provider, have the new provider place their order first. They activate on the same line and the Optus service ends behind it, which avoids a gap and avoids you paying two providers for the same month.

Cancel Fetch, SubHub and other add-ons on your Optus bill

Add-ons billed through the Optus account are the most common source of a charge people cannot place. Each one cancels somewhere different.

The SubHub trap runs the opposite way to the usual app store trap. You cannot cancel a SubHub subscription at the provider. Optus's answer to whether you can log into Amazon Prime or Netflix to stop it is: "You must cancel your content subscriptions directly within the SubHub platform." SubHub's own help page repeats it: "No, if you have activated via SubHub, you must cancel your subscriptions directly within the SubHub platform."

To tell which rail a subscription is on, look at where it lands. If the charge appears as a line on your Optus bill rather than on your card, it is a SubHub or Optus add-on and Optus is the only place it stops. If it hits your card separately, cancel it at the provider.

Cancelling the Optus service underneath also ends them. Optus says: "If you cancel your Optus service and have no other active service eligible for SubHub, you'll lose access to the SubHub platform and your content subscriptions at the next renewal date." If you want to keep Netflix, move it to your own card before you disconnect.

What it costs, and what the contract says

Prices below are the AUD monthly charges advertised on optus.com.au on 11 September 2026. Your own plan may be a legacy plan on different pricing, in which case the figures that bind you are on your Critical Information Summary, reachable in My Account under Plan Details.

On the contract itself, Optus's published position on its current month-to-month plans, verified 11 September 2026, is that there is no exit fee for the plan and no refund of the month you are in.

For nbn and 5G Home Internet, from the terms on the plan pages: "You can cancel your plan at any time by notifying us. You will not receive a refund of charges paid in advance for the remainder of your payment cycle, unless otherwise set out in our agreement and subject to your consumer law rights." The minimum total cost panels put it more bluntly: "You won't receive a pro-rata refund for the remainder of your payment cycle when you cancel. There are no other plan cancellation fees."

For mobile, the Choice Plus terms say: "If your plan is cancelled, there are no cancellation fees, but you will not receive a pro rata refund for the reminder of the payment cycle, unless otherwise provided in our standard agreement and subject to your consumer law rights."

Because Optus bills the plan fee in advance and refunds nothing when you leave mid-cycle, cancelling the day after a bill issues costs you a full month more than cancelling the day before the next one.

The device and modem payout, which is where the money is

Optus does not charge an early termination fee on these plans. It claws back the device instead. Quoted exactly from Optus:

Phones, tablets and watches (OptusPay):

"If you cancel your eligible Optus plan or move to an ineligible Optus plan, your will no longer be able to use OptusPay/your Device Payment Plan will be cancelled and , you'll need to pay out any remaining device payments in full. Any applicable device credits or discounts will be forfeited." The maths Optus publishes for an early upgrade is the same one: "This is calculated by multiplying your monthly device payment by the number of months left on your plan." You can look up the figure in the My Optus app before you commit.

The nbn modem (Ultra WiFi Modem Gen 2):

"Pay $0 for our Ultra WiFi Modem Gen 2 when you stay connected for 24 months (normally $306). That's a $12.75/month credit on the modem for each month you stay connected. If you cancel before 24 months, you'll need to pay out any remaining cost of the modem, e.g. if you cancelled with 12 months remaining, you'd need to pay $153 ($12.75/month x 12 months remaining)."

The 5G Home Internet modem (Ultra WiFi 5G Modem):

"Pay $0 for our Ultra WiFi 5G Modem when you stay connected for 36 months (normally $468). That's a $13/month credit on the modem for each month you stay connected. If you cancel before 36 months, you'll need to pay out any remaining cost of the modem, e.g. if you cancelled with 12 months remaining, you'd need to pay $156 ($13/month x 12 months remaining)." Optus calls this the Remaining Device Payment Fee.

Older modem terms still on the page:

For customers on a 36 month modem arrangement, Optus's footnote reads: "Modem's cost is $252 for Gen 1 and $306 for Gen 2. If you stay connected for 36 months, you won't have to pay anything for the modem. We'll cover $7 for Gen 1 and $8.50 for Gen 2 each month you stay connected."

Every one of those is a formula rather than a flat fee. Do not accept a number from a retention agent without seeing the months remaining it was calculated from.

One published way out of the 5G payout:

The Speed Satisfaction Guarantee on the 5G Home Internet plans lets you cancel the service and the device payment plan together if you are not getting the speed Optus promised. Optus: "If your issue is within the terms of the 40Mbps Speed Satisfaction Guarantee, we will confirm your eligibility to cancel your service and Device Payment Plan (DPP) under the Guarantee. Cancellation is effective immediately following this confirmation. You must return the Optus 5G modem to us in good working order within 30 days of cancellation or you will be charged the remaining cost of your modem in one lump sum."

Equipment you have to send back

Optus arranges returns through Australia Post, not through its stores. From the cancellation page: "If we require any equipment to be returned, we'll provide you with an eParcel return code and instructions on how to return the equipment via Australia Post," followed by "Important: Do not return equipment to Optus stores."

Optus tells you to photograph the modem before you send it, because the photos "will assist in any damage assessments", and to keep the Australia Post receipt: "Make sure to keep your return receipt as proof of the return." If Optus later charges a non-return fee against equipment you did send back, that receipt is what settles it.

Your Optus email is tied to holding an Optus service

If you use an @optusnet.com.au address, read Optus's own condition before you disconnect. Optus states that "Customers with an eligible Optus product or service* will continue to access their Optusnet email service at no additional charge on the OptusNet Basic plan", and defines the asterisk as "a mobile broadband, NBN, 4G or 5G Home internet, postpaid mobile, Fetch, and connected devices (each an eligible service) and does not include Optus Sport and prepaid mobile services". If you are leaving Optus entirely, Optus says only that it "will be contacting you to discuss your options". Optus also confirms new OptusNet email signups are closed.

Treat the address as ending. Move anything using it for logins or two-factor codes to an independent address before the disconnection date, not after.

What Australian Consumer Law gives you here

Consumer guarantees are real and Optus cannot contract out of them. Optus's own 5G terms concede the point: "Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service, you are entitled: to cancel your service contract with us; and to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value."

The guarantees do not give you a way out of a deal you have gone off. The ACCC is explicit that consumers are not entitled to a remedy if "they got what they asked for but simply changed their mind, found the product cheaper somewhere else, or decided they didn't like the purchase or had no use for it".

Where you stand depends on the complaint.

• A service that does not work as promised is a consumer guarantee issue. Where it is a major problem, the ACCC says you can "cancel the contract and get a refund", while noting "this may not be a full refund, as the consumer needs to pay a reasonable amount for any work done so far and as expected".
• A device payout you agreed to is not automatically an unfair contract term, because it is the unpaid balance of something you are keeping. Arguing it is unfair rarely goes anywhere. Arguing that the amount was miscalculated, or that Optus quoted you a different figure, often does.
• Billing after the disconnection date Optus gave you is your strongest position, because it is a factual dispute rather than a legal one.

When the charges keep coming after you cancel

Work the escalation in order, because the ombudsman will ask what you did first.

1. Lodge a formal complaint with Optus. Optus publishes six routes on its complaints page: message 24/7 through the My Optus app or My Account, an online form at optus.com.au/support/feedback-and-complaints, in store, by phone, email to complaints@optus.com.au, and post to Optus Complaints, PO Box 888, North Ryde NSW 2113. Of these, the online form is the one Optus attaches a person to: "We will assign a case manager to your complaint, who will contact you in a few business days."
2. Then go to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. The TIO handles exactly this, and calls are free from landlines. Its guidance is "First try to raise your problem with your provider. Skipping this step adds five extra days to your case." Call 1800 062 058 or lodge it at tio.com.au.
3. Keep the paper. Your cancellation reference number, the date Optus gave you, the Australia Post return receipt, and every bill issued after the disconnection date.

Do not cancel the direct debit and walk away. Optus bills the device payout and any non-return fee to the account whether or not the debit succeeds, and unpaid charges are the one thing that makes the equipment and payout arguments harder to run.

Deceased estates

Optus runs a separate Bereavement Care process and you do not have to argue with retention. Optus publishes the Australian Death Notification Service, which notifies multiple organisations at once, and the Bereavement Care Form emailed to BereavementCare@optus.com.au or posted to Bereavement Care, PO Box 888, North Ryde NSW 1670. Optus says a specialised team "will be in touch within 10 business days", and that once processed it will "Stop any further billing and cancel all existing direct debit arrangements". Optus stores will help fill the form in.