The Federal Government has announced new measures to prevent Australians running up huge mobile phone bills while overseas.

Telecommunications companies including Telstra, Optus and Vodafone will now have to send customers who turn their mobile device on overseas a text message detailing international charging rates.

Customers will also get information which will help them opt out of international data roaming for a small fee.

If customers do choose to use data roaming, they will get reminders every time their bill goes up by a hundred dollars.

Communications Minister Anthony Albanese says too many Australians are returning home from overseas with phone bills worth more than their trip.

"For example, one gentleman ... spent a day in Singapore and copped a $9,000 bill," he said.

"That is simply unacceptable."

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Kelsey was also shocked by her mobile phone bill after a recent trip.

She says many phone users just want cheaper prices.

"I can remember one phone to my aunty was $35, and I think it was for only a couple of minutes," she said.

She said calling her family in Australia quickly began costing her hundreds of dollars.

"We just paid it," she said.

"When we were calling home and stuff we had no other way of communicating when we were travelling around."

Kelsey says she wants more information about how much calls cost overseas.

"We understand that it's going to be expensive but you never know how expensive it's going to be until you get home," she said

The Telecommunications Ombudsman is concerned about the massive rise in complaints about overseas roaming charges.

Last year there were more than 4,000 complaints, a jump of nearly 70 per cent on the year before.

Phone users caught unawares

Australian Communications and Media Authority spokesman Tom Burton says phone users are often caught unawares.

"When people travel overseas they have their devices turned on and the system roams to the local carrier and the local carrier will then charge you what ever it feels is the appropriate rate," he said.

"It's very different from whatever the plan you signed up to and that's the key piece for people to understand that when you travel overseas you're no longer covered by your plan."

With the growth of smart phones, which are often always connected to the internet, customers can also run up massive bills without making a call.

"People are not aware how quickly it can turn against you," he said.

"Even people who are sophisticated in this space and understand their devices get stung very quickly ... particularly in the area of data usage.

"People will take their tablet turned on [thinking] they've turned off various things, but have [left] their email sitting there, or their work email.

"It's continually updating and you can very, very quickly work up a high data bill."

Mr Burton says the new system will still leave ultimate responsibility with the phone user.

"This particular initiative is warning people and it's very important they are warned," he said.

But Mr Burton says it is difficult to regulate that at a global level.

"It's a complicated situation because any local carrier can charge what they like," he said.

The organisation which represents phone users, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), welcomes the changes but says it will not solve the underlying problem.

ACCAN says international phone charges must be made cheaper.

But Kelsey is happy that the industry will soon be just a little bit more transparent.

"It's such a vague outline of what it's going to cost," she said.

"We just kind of kept the calling to a minimum, but I would have loved to have known how much it exactly it was going to be."