Calls go out to dial in payphones as national landmarks

One phone in a coastal NSW town proved pivotal throughout the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires when it was used nearly 1000 times in two months after power and mobile service were down.

Historian Naomi Parry Duncan, who lived through the fires in Narooma on New Year's Eve, said the phones had been a critical link to the outside world.

"The power was out, mobile networks were down and we were cut off, there was no phone reception, there were no ATMs, no updates, no cash," she said.

"People flocked to the evacuation centre and one of the only ways to contact loved ones was through the Telstra public phone

"I remember seeing lines of people using it - grateful it was there and free in a moment of total disconnection."

National landmark status is also being sought for a phone in Melville Rd, Brunswick West, Melbourne.

It is the most commonly used public phone for Lifeline, other crisis support lines and emergency services.

Lifeline chief executive Colin Seery said the phones remained a vital safety net for Australians doing it tough.

"For some, they're the safest, and in some cases the only way, to reach out, especially if they don't have access to a mobile or feel more comfortable calling from a public space," he said.

"Just last year alone, nearly 14,000 Lifeline calls came through public phones.

"That's more than 1000 people every month reaching out for support when they need it most."

The third nominee deep in Queenland's Gulf Country has provided essential connection for the remote Indigenous community of Doomadgee for decades.

It was upgraded to include free Wi-Fi in late 2024.

Since 2021, all local and national calls to standard Australian fixed line numbers and mobiles have been free on the nation's 15,000-odd public phones.

Telstra is mandated to maintain payphones as their use dwindles in other nations.

The US has had massive decline in payphones, from more than 2.1 million in 1999 to less than 100,000 in 2016.