Billions Spent, More Lives Lost: Why the Mental Health System Is Failing and How a Phone Call Could Save It

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 August 2025

Despite decades of growing awareness and rising spending, the outcomes are clear: disconnection is growing. For too many Australians, the mental health system has become expensive, complex, and out of reach. What's missing is something far more human - genuine connection.

Governments continue to invest, but the cracks are widening. In the 2024-25 Federal Budget, just $361 million was committed over four years to new mental health programs - the lowest new investment since 2018. Meanwhile, combined state and federal spending has exceeded $8 billion annually, yet frontline clinical services remain overwhelmed and under-resourced.

The real cost is measured in lives and suffering. In 2022, 3,249 Australians died by suicide, a number higher than the year before. One in five Australians - more than 4.2 million people - experienced a mental disorder last year. And loneliness? It now impacts up to 21% of the population, dragging down productivity and health, and costing the nation $2.7 billion each year.

These numbers tell a devastating story: our current approach is failing to reach people before they fall.

Charles Alder, Founder of CallFour and Co-Founder of Rural Aid said,

"I've seen firsthand that despite record government and private spending - both before and after COVID - loneliness, depression, and suicide rates continue to rise. Mental health outcomes aren't improving; in fact, they're getting worse. So, we have to ask: is all this money really making a difference?

We've witnessed it time and again - through drought, fire, and flood since 2018 - particularly in rural Australia. No matter how much is spent, the rates of loneliness, depression, and suicide aren't going down.

It's time to reset the conversation about care. Are we truly addressing the root of the problem? CallFour is a simple, low-cost way to reconnect people and rebuild relationships. Through the power of listening and conversation, we can measurably improve lives."

That's where CallFour steps in. It's not a hotline. It's not therapy. It's a movement.

At its heart, CallFour is a friends-calling-friends network. Each week, participants commit to calling four people — just to check in. No agenda. No diagnosis. Just a genuine, human conversation. Because behind every struggling person is someone who simply needs to be heard. And every call is a chance to remind someone: you matter.

What makes CallFour different is its simplicity and reach. There are no scripts, no professionals — just real people reconnecting. It's accessible to all Australians, and expanding globally. It's inclusive by design — built for everyone: rural or urban, young or old, from all walks of life. And most importantly, it's free, simple, and entirely human-driven.

From farmers in drought-affected towns to young professionals in city apartments, from truck drivers to teachers — CallFour is working to ignite 1 million weekly conversations by the end of 2025.

Because this isn't just about reducing loneliness — it's about rebuilding the emotional infrastructure of society, through care, empathy, and the simple act of picking up the phone.

When systems fail, people can still step up.

CallFour is living proof that we don't always need another billion-dollar program to make a difference — sometimes, we just need each other.

More information: www.callfour.life
Media: Charles Alder 0410714379
Email: charles@callfour.life