New figures have revealed that public payphones, once nearing obsolescence, have now become a crucial resource for Australia’s most vulnerable.
Over 300-thousand free calls were made to emergency services like Triple-zero, Lifeline, and 1800-Respect from public phones in the past year.
Free national calls were introduced in 2021, and free Wi-Fi followed in 2022.
Payphones provide privacy and access to vital services for those facing domestic violence, homelessness or other emergencies.
Telstra reported a 20 per cent rise in emergency calls, highlighting the continued importance of the public phones, particularly in remote areas and for people without mobile access.
In total, 25.8 million free calls have been made from 14,400 public phones across Australia, and 2.5 million devices connected to free Wi-Fi at enabled booths.