Reuse a mobile and Do Good

(This campaign was run in December 2022 only, and has now finished).

MobileMuster is calling on Australians to donate their working but unused mobile phones to one of our social cause partners,  DV Safe Phone or The Reconnect Project.

Over the last 24 years, MobileMuster has played a significant role in collecting and recycling end-of-life mobile phones and accessories. The program also provides resources to assist people with repair and reuse and supports a number of charities and social causes.

With 26 million phones currently in storage across Australia, and only five million of these being unusable [1], MobileMuster is urging Australians to think about reusing their working phones in storage by donating to someone in need.

As technology advances, we are seeing the expansion of the digital divide, where the gap between those who have access to digital technology and those who do not is widening. In fact, the Australian Digital Inclusion Index notes that one in four people in Australia are digitally excluded [2].

For most of us, having access to a working mobile phone at Christmas means connection to family, friends, loved ones… and even selfies. For vulnerable people in the community however, Christmas can be a time of deep uncertainty and fear. Having access to a working mobile phone can often make a significant difference to them, even saving their lives.

This is why we’re running a donation drive for DV Safe Phone and The Reconnect Project in December.

With a simple repair, secure erasure of data and an overall clean by our partners, your donated devices will be made ready to (re)connect people to family, friends, and essential services, and help close the digital divide in Australia.

Donating a phone is simple. Once you’ve decided which organisation you would like to donate to, check out our Do Good page here for further information, including a step-by-step guide to download a mailing label and post back your working mobiles for free.

The campaign runs through the end of January.

Background information

• On average one woman a week and one man per month is murdered by a current or previous partner.
• One in six women, and one in 16 men have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner.
• People living in regional and remote Australia are 24 times more likely to be hospitalised from domestic violence than those living in major cities.
• People with a disability are 1.8 times more likely to have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a partner.
• Aboriginal women, Torres Strait Islander women, and culturally and linguistically diverse women are disproportionately affected by domestic and family violence and sexual assault.
• One in two women and seven in 10 men who have experienced family, domestic or sexual violence never sought advice or support.

[1] IPSOS Survey carried out in March/April 2022 with 1,000 respondents aged 16+ who own a mobile phone
[2] Australian Digital Inclusion Index – key findings 2021: digitalinclusionindex.org.au/key-findings-and-next-steps/

Sources:

Australian Institute of Women’s Health, 2019, Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia: continuing the national story.
Parkinson & Zara, 2022. The hidden disaster: domestic violence in the aftermath of natural disaster. Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub.