It mandates installing tamper-proof, fixed-line phones in all residential care homes to give children 24/7 access to helplines, emergency services, and child protection authorities, empowering them to speak up, report abuse or seek help independently.

Children in OOHC face high risks of abuse, neglect, and suicide due to placement instability and lack of private communication. We often encourage young people to speak up about their feelings rather than bottle them up. This gives children another avenue to speak up.

Lucas Hope, a former residential care youth worker and correctional officer, now a truck driver and state election candidate, drew from his experiences to advocate for this reform..

Borrowed from military strategy, it views the child's ability to communicate as the key leverage point to shift the system, deterring neglect by making silence harder to maintain.

They are fixed, visible, and tamper-proof, ensuring permanent access without reliance on credit or personal devices. The primary target age is for children under 16 who do not have access to a mobile phone. However, Hoppeline telephones will be available for all ages, as their reliability doesn’t depend on available credit, and they cannot be confiscated.

Pre-programmed numbers include Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), emergency (000), child protection hotlines, Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People, and CAMHS. Family/friend contact may be allowed with risk assessments in place.Collaborative, honest, and straightforward. We're here to guide the process, bring ideas to the table, and keep things moving.

It's too early in the policy proposal process to know if this will be front and centre. A debate should be held between the "safety first" side and the "best interest" side. We'll conduct additional risk checks and hold more talks during the early stages of rolling out this policy.

Calls cannot be recorded without the consent of all parties or a warrant, pursuant to section 7 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) and section 4 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2016 (SA), which prohibit the unauthorised recording of private conversations.

Phones are robust, fixed to structures, and designed to withstand violence. Misuse (e.g., non-emergency calls) is addressed through audits; tampering is defined and prohibited in the draft bill.

The state government handles installation and rollout, not NGOs, to ensure consistency. Regular audits (at least annually) to verify compliance.

NSW prisons use tablets for calls; the UK's Children's Homes Regulations mandate unsupervised phone access; British Columbia requires 24/7 access to a helpline in youth facilities.

As an adult, I wouldn't trust many people after being shuffled through 100+ carers in care.

Children face the same — how can they open up when no one sticks around long enough to build absolute trust, and every new face feels like a potential risk of more instability?

Additionally;

It seeks to counter the 23.9-year average delay in abuse disclosure (as reported by the Royal Commission) by providing immediate, independent channels and reducing fear of reprisal. There are no statistics on the disclosure of neglect, so we are relying on the Royal Commission's numbers.

The proposal doesn't specify, but as a simple infrastructure addition, it’s low-cost and could yield savings from reduced trauma-related interventions

Phones are child-friendly, but adaptations (e.g., for non-verbal users) aren't detailed—future discussions could include voice-to-text or visual aids.

The phone’s visibility acts as a deterrent; carers know that children can report at any time, promoting accountability and diligence.

Yes, focused on SA's OOHC crisis, but it could inspire national reforms aligned with reducing abuse and neglect.

Case studies like Tiahleigh Palmer's murder and Wayne Astill's abuses show that silence enables harm, and inquiries (Mullighan, Nyland) highlight ongoing failures despite reforms

Lucas Hope is a candidate for the seat of Hammond in the 2026 South Australian state election. If elected, he will advocate for this reform's enactment. Even if unsuccessful in the election, he remains committed to pursuing its implementation.

Lucas will stop at nothing to enact this policy.