Phil McAuliffe

Phil McAuliffe (he/him) is a loneliness thought leader who draws upon his lived experience to start and lead kind and honest conversations that destigmatise loneliness and help humans get the authentic connection they need.

He is the founder of HUMANS: CONNECTING, a social enterprise that works to destigmatise loneliness and lead efforts to reduce loneliness globally. He also created The Lonely Diplomat (in 2018) and The Loneliness Guy (in 2020), which are also based on his lived experience.

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Phil was an Australian Public Servant for 23 years. During this time he lived and worked in Australia, Venezuela, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand as a diplomat and as an accompanying diplomatic spouse. He worked as a journalist in Caracas in 2002-2003, reporting on Venezuela's foreign policies during a time of political, economic and social upheaval, but created a popular weekly column helping expatriates feel a sense of belonging in Venezuela. 

Phil's work draws upon wisdom earned over a lifetime to help humans get the authentic connection they need at home, at work and in their communities. Phil's ability to talk about loneliness and social disconnection through his lived experience offers perspectives that help humans connect with difficult subject matter.

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His lived experience and insights on loneliness have appeared in prestigious outlets such as Science, the BBC World Service and various other Australian and international media.

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He lives in Canberra (on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country) with Jeff, his partner, and their twin teenage sons.