The Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs’ Inquiry Report into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Cashless Debit Card) Bill 2017 has been released, recommending that the Bill be passed. If enacted, the Bill would enable the scheme to continue operating past the original cut-off date of 2018 in the two current trial sites of Ceduna, South Australia, and the East Kimberley, Western Australia, and expanded to be applied anywhere in Australia, restricting up to 80 percent of the working-age income support payment for anyone irrespective of whether they have an addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling.Evaluation of the scheme in the East Kimberley by the Australian National University cites glaring oversights in interim government evaluations of the trial sites that claim ‘success’, such as an absence of baseline data to test the claim that the scheme causally reduced rates of alcohol and drug use and gambling. In fact, the research shows that the scheme does not fulfill its objective in demonstrably decreasing violence or harm, disproportionately targets Indigenous peoples, was chaotically implemented with strong community opposition, and that those affected almost unilaterally said the card made their lives worse.
