Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

We know that about a third of our senior Australians live alone and that, with social distancing and the measures that we've had to put in place over the coronavirus pandemic, this has meant many of them are relying on different ways to become connected. Connecting online or on the phone is especially important at this time for our older Australians. That's why we have put additional funds into two particular initiatives, to help prevent loneliness and social isolation for older Australians. The first is a $5 million package to significantly expand the FriendLine, which is a telephone line that is free and anonymous and allows older Australians to chat with a friendly volunteer about whatever issue may be concerning them. The funding will boost the line to allow an extra 15,000 calls to be answered in the period. In addition, we put another million dollars into a program called Be Connected, where older Australians who find themselves with technology that may not be able to be used, or they don't have any mobile phone or a computer—