WITH payphones offering free calls since August 2021 and rural areas still showing a higher proportional usage of them compared to larger cities, they may be around for some time yet in towns like Hamilton and surrounding areas.

New data shows the phones have become a lifeline for Aussies in vulnerable circumstances despite mobile phone ownership being almost ubiquitous.

Payphone usage has skyrocketed, with an increase of nearly five million calls in the past year up to over 23 million, and over 40 million in the past two years.

 Across critical helplines is where some of the sharpest rises in calls has been seen, including:

250,000+ calls directed to emergency services, up by 15 per cent on previous year

12,000+ calls made to Lifeline, up by more than 30 per cent from the previous year

12,000+ calls made to headspace, up by over 28 per cent on the previous year

85,000+ calls to Centrelink’s reporting line, up by over 30 per cent on previous year

Salvation Army commanding officer, Brendan Nottle, said the uptick in payphone usage was very clearly a validation of making calls free, calling the decision “a stroke of genius”.

“Payphones becoming free has given people access to services that they’re in desperate need of, with a lot of people able to connect with housing and support services,” he said.

“It’s fantastic that they can just go straight to a payphone and they know they don’t need coins, they don’t need money, they can just jump on the phone and get support.”

He said the Salvos had noticed the increase in calls made from public phones and underlined the importance of access to basic communication tools.

“Payphones are also a wonderful way of people connecting and a lot of people we work with right across the nation are suffering not just from poverty but also social poverty,” Mr Nottle said.

“They don’t have access to family and friends, so payphones are a great way of connecting them with people who care.

“We’ve got stories where people have been disconnected from family in some cases for a number of years, and they’ve picked up a phone … and they’ve been able to reestablish contact, once again, that’s been so important for them.”

Mr Nottle said the Salvation Army has been actively tracking the change with calls to them.

“There’s been a 15 per cent increase in the number of people accessing the Salvo helplines through payphones so this initiative is really important because it says to people that help is there, but more than that help, the ability to connect with that help is also there,” he said.

“That’s something that’s been missing in the past and payphones have fixed that problem which makes such a difference to the people we work with.”

The growing importance that payphones play within key community and regional groups was also reflected in the locations of the most used payphones.

Australia’s most used free payphone is located at the Sacred Heart Mission in Melbourne’s CBD and provides crucial support to people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence and other challenges - nearly 3000 free calls are made every month, averaging one call every 14 minutes.

The next five most used payphones are in the Northern Territory and are predominantly used by regional and First Nations communities, providing a vital link for many who may not have other ways to stay connected.

In the 1990s, before mobile phones became widespread, Telstra had over 80,000 payphones across Australia - now there are only about 14,500.

In 2022, despite a population of over 26 million, the total number of mobile connections in Australia reached nearly 31.9 million.

But not everyone owns a mobile phone - only about 90 per cent of Australians - the discrepancy in the numbers above explained by people who use multiple services, such as one for personal and another for work.

Of mobile phone users, there are also about five per cent who are not using smartphones.

Landline usage continues to decline, with about 63 per cent of people using mobile-only for voice calls at home, up from 29 per cent in 2015.

In addition to free payphone calls and texts, Telstra has 3300 payphones with free Wi-Fi access and the plan is to make this service available across even more payphones.

How to access free payphones

To find the closest payphone, Telstra has an online payphone finder where you can enter your location to see a list and map of your closest options.

It will also be able to tell you which phones support free Wi-Fi if it’s internet connectivity you need.

Making calls on payphones is as simple as dialling the number you’d like to reach, but if you need a hand connecting to Wi-Fi, here are the basics:

Turn on your device’s Wi-Fi if it isn’t already on

Select the ‘free Telstra Wi-Fi’ in your Wi-Fi settings

The Telstra Wi-Fi portal will launch automatically where you’ll just need to agree to the terms and conditions.

That’s it! You’re online.