Still they stand, beacons of hope beside Australia's highways and suburban streets.
Public telephones — once slated for obsolescence as mobile devices appeared in every hand — are increasingly becoming a last lifeline for the nation's most vulnerable people.
More than 300,000 free phone calls were made from public phones across Australia to triple-0, Lifeline, 1800-Respect and other lifesaving services in the past year.
Public phones were made free for calls within Australia in 2021, and free wi-fi at some booths was introduced the following year.
Lifeline and 1800 RESPECT were some of the most popular helplines called on public phones. (ABC News: Pamela Medlen)
Lifeline's Kylie Hutchinson-McGowan, the team manager of its crisis counselling centre in the Darling Downs, believes this is because phone boxes offer privacy, anonymity and access that mobile phones do not.
"For people that are experiencing domestic and family violence, being able to walk to a free pay phone where you're alone or safe is very, very useful," Ms Hutchinson-McGowan said.
Kylie Hutchinson-McGowan says the anonymity of a public phone can help people talk to counsellors. (Supplied: Kylie Hutchinson-McGowan)
"No one can hear me. I can be completely open and honest.
"I can talk about my feelings without worrying that the kids are hearing me in the kitchen, or my partner hearing me.
"In those situations where it is DFV (domestic and family violence) and you are trying to seek some support, you don't need to worry about anyone hearing your plans to maintain safety."
Millions of free calls
Telstra chief customer advocate Teresa Corbin said nationally, emergency calls from public phones had risen by about 20 per cent in the past year.
"Payphones remain a critical lifeline for those needing connectivity across Australia," she said.
"People still rely on the services provided by payphones, and this is especially the case for those in remote locations, including First Nations communities, people living through and recovering from disasters, or those dealing with homelessness or escaping family violence.
"In a family violence situation, people may be worried about being tracked on their phone. They could also possibly have had to leave in a hurry and not have their device with them."
Ms Corbin said in emergencies, people often lost their phone.
"And also, of course, people who are homeless may well not have enough credit or charge on their phone," she said.
In total, 25.8 million free phone calls were made from 14,400 public phones around the nation in the past year, and 2.5 million devices logged on to free wi-fi at 4,000 enabled booths.
The top 10 most frequented public phones for helplines in Queensland, according to Telstra, are:
- Thorne Street, Ipswich
- Ross River Road, Aitkenvale
- West Street, Toowoomba
- Sandgate Road, Nundah
- Shields Street, Cairns City
- Barambah Street, Cherbourg
- Byrnes Street, Mareeba
- Royal Brisbane Hospital's Mental Health Centre
- Cairns Hospital
- Shang Park, Mooroobool.
The top three phones used to call helplines in Queensland were secluded but close to shops and residents. (Supplied)
The most used public phones for helplines nationally included services on Melville Road in Melbourne's Brunswick West in Victoria, as well as Palmerston City bus depot and Casuarina bus terminal, both in the Northern Territory.
Both the Palmerston and Casuarina public phones were also the two most used phones in Australia overall.
The novelty factor
For a new generation unfamiliar with public phones, they can represent history brought to life.
Evelyn Wilkie, from Stanthorpe on Queensland's Granite Belt, said they were educational for her grandsons.
Public phones are also a novelty for the younger generation. (ABC Kimberley: Chris Meldrum)
"When my grandsons come to visit, we go up to the local corner store to buy the paper every morning and there's a public phone box there," Ms Wilkie said.
"And it's quite a game to ring their parents at home.
"But the funny part is, they always pretend to be a scammer."
Telstra public phones are reaching their third year of being free to use. (ABC Western Qld: Victoria Pengilley)
For those of a certain age, memories of days when public phones demanded payment can be tinged with nostalgia.
Fay Wieck from Toowoomba, on Queensland's Darling Downs, said even cheap phone calls were enough to draw crowds in the late 1960s, when she was stationed around Australia with the Air Force.
"[Occasionally] somebody would find a … phone where you could make Australia-wide phone calls for 5 cents and talk for as long as you like," Ms Wieck said.
"You'd have a queue outside the phone box every night for people wanting to phone home.
"It was just a fault in the phones — eventually Telstra, or Telecom as it was back then, would find out and they fixed them up."