There are more than 15,000 payphones across the network used to make 11 million calls over the past year.
Telstra CEO Andrew Penn said this decision means everyone can now use payphones to make a free local or national call to a standard fixed line or a call to an Australian mobile.
“Telstra payphones are now free phones for everyone to anywhere in Australia,” he said.
“They are an iconic and critical part of our community, and for many Australians, the availability of a payphone is a vital lifeline, especially for those vulnerable including the homeless, people who are isolated or someone escaping an unsafe situation. That’s why I have taken this decision to make national calls from payphones free, because they play such a critical role in our community, particularly in times of need and for those in need.”
Telstra has previously unlocked payphones in response to natural disasters.
“I have been moved seeing first-hand queues of people waiting in line, to use a payphone to tell their family and friends they’re safe after a bushfire, a cyclone or some other natural disaster has taken the mobile network down,” Mr Penn said.
“I can only imagine the relief their families feel knowing their loved one is safe.”
Telstra also made domestic calls free across nearly 600 payphones in remote indigenous communities in 2020 to ensure these areas remained connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the past five years a project involving Telstra and the Salvation Army has provided free national calls on its payphones during the Christmas and New Year period.
The Salvation Army’s Major Brendan Nottle described permanent access to free calls as an absolute game changer.
“The reality is this piece of infrastructure is absolutely critical because a lot of Australians either don’t have a mobile phone, lose it or the phone’s charger, or simply run out of credit,” he said.
“Connection is absolutely vital for every human being, but particularly for those who are vulnerable.”
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