Loneliness and social isolation are shaped by housing, transport, aged care, disability services and community life. A dedicated minister could bring those strands together and make social connection a national policy priority.
In April 2025, two in five Australians reported experiencing loneliness at least some time during the previous week. Behind that statistic are people who may be living alone, disconnected from family, struggling to find a sense of belonging, or simply going through life without enough meaningful human contact.
Loneliness is often treated as a personal experience, but its causes and consequences reach beyond the individual. Housing, transport, community facilities, volunteering, participation and the support available at different stages of life can all influence whether people feel connected.
Australia measures loneliness and social isolation, but responsibility for social connection is spread across many areas of government. Health, aged care, housing, transport, disability, community services and local government each address part of the picture. What is missing is a clear national focus that brings these pieces together.
That is why Australia should consider appointing a minister for loneliness and social connection.
My own understanding of this issue began almost 40 years ago in Canada.
I grew up in Bangladesh in an extended family where three generations commonly lived under the same roof. Parents, grandparents and grandchildren shared a home and many responsibilities of everyday life. Looking after older family members was simply part of family life.
In 1987, I travelled from Kuala Lumpur through Singapore, Bombay, London and Toronto to begin postgraduate study in economics in Canada. I had never lived in a predominantly white Western country and knew nobody there.
During the journey I met a young man named Joey. When he learned that I had no one meeting me at the airport, he introduced me to his friend Spencer, who took me to the university. It was a Friday afternoon and the student office was about to close. When the staff were trying to work out what to do with the new international student, Joey simply said, “Stay at my place.”
So I did.
The following evening, Joey asked me to accompany him and his father to visit his grandfather. I assumed we were going to his grandfather’s home. Instead, we went to an aged care facility.
I was surprised. Coming from Bangladesh, I had expected someone like his grandfather to remain in the family home, surrounded by children and grandchildren. I had never encountered residential aged care and had no language at the time to describe what I was seeing.
Looking back almost 40 years later, I recognise that this was my first encounter with loneliness, social isolation and residential aged care in a Western society.
The contrast stayed with me. It made me think about what happens to our sense of connection when family structures change and the everyday support once provided by family is no longer available in the same way.
Australia today has many different family structures, and government should not seek to preserve one particular model. But when traditional sources of connection weaken, an important policy question remains: what other opportunities do people have to belong, participate and maintain meaningful relationships?
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that in 2024, 15 per cent of Australians aged 15 and over experienced loneliness and 15 per cent experienced social isolation. Among people aged 35 to 44, loneliness was 17 per cent, while social isolation among people aged 15 to 24 was also 17 per cent.
Loneliness and social isolation are not the same thing. Someone can have few social contacts without feeling lonely, while another person can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. The response therefore cannot simply be about treating loneliness after it occurs. We also need to consider whether our communities and services provide enough opportunities for people to connect.
This is where government has a role.
Housing and transport can determine whether people can reach family, friends, workplaces, libraries, sporting clubs and community centres. Local councils provide many of the places where people meet. Community organisations, sporting clubs, cultural organisations, faith communities and volunteers create relationships that government cannot manufacture.
Health, aged care and disability policy also affect people’s ability to participate. An older person may receive good aged care but remain isolated if they cannot get to a community centre, place of worship or visit friends.
All these contributions matter, but someone needs to see the whole picture.
A federal minister for loneliness and social connection could lead a five-year national strategy, bringing together existing work across government and setting clear priorities for improving social connection and reducing loneliness.
The strategy could examine how housing, transport, health, aged care, disability and community infrastructure affect opportunities to connect. It could identify effective local initiatives and support councils and community organisations to develop solutions suited to their communities.
The purpose would not be to create another large bureaucracy or suggest that government can solve loneliness. It would give the issue a clear home within government, bring existing work together and make social connection part of major policy decisions.
An annual social connection statement to Parliament could report on loneliness, social isolation, participation and volunteering, providing a clearer picture of progress and accountability.
Government cannot create friendship or replace family. But it can influence the conditions in which connection becomes easier or harder. It can support accessible transport, community facilities, volunteering, local sport, arts and cultural participation. It can consider social connection when planning housing and neighbourhoods and ask a simple question when developing major policies: will this make it easier or harder for people to connect?
Australia would not be starting from scratch. In 2018, the United Kingdom appointed Tracey Crouch to lead cross-government work on loneliness and subsequently developed A Connected Society, its strategy for England. The approach recognised that loneliness could not be addressed by one department alone.
Australia does not need to copy the UK model. But there is a useful lesson: when an issue cuts across government responsibilities, it needs clear leadership and coordination.
Almost 40 years ago, a young man I had just met invited a stranger to stay at his home. I have never forgotten that act of generosity.
My journey from Bangladesh to Malaysia, Canada and Australia exposed me to very different understandings of family, community and belonging. More than three decades of working in public policy and community organisations have reinforced for me that social connection is not a luxury. It is part of what makes a society work.
Whether we are First Nations Australians with deep connections to Country, culture, family and community, Australians whose families arrived generations ago, or more recent migrants, none of us is immune from loneliness.
Australia already has many of the people, organisations and institutions needed to respond. What is missing is a clearer national focus.
A minister for loneliness and social connection would give this work a home, create accountability and encourage governments to consider connection alongside other policy outcomes.
People need people. Public policy should recognise that.
Mainul Haque
Mainul Haque OAM is an economist and former senior Australian public servant with nearly 30 years’ experience shaping and analysing policy across government, academia, and the not-for-profit sector. He is a community leader, board member and non-executive director, and former ACT Multicultural Ambassador. He writes on social cohesion, migration, and public policy, grounding his analysis in practical experience.Mainul has held numerous board and advisory roles across Canberra’s community, education and multicultural sectors, and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his significant contribution to the ACT community.