Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, member for Jagajaga, that is very kind. I would like to speak on the debit card. This is an exciting trial, which looks at a different way of managing alcohol, drug and gambling problems. I want to recognise the very significant contribution to the development of this trial by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, the member for Aston, who has been working on this relentlessly and has worked very hard with the communities. The proposal in the legislation is to allow up to three trial sites. It is looking at a cashless debit card for Centrelink recipients in communities where there is significant alcohol, drug and/or gambling problems. The government is planning to introduce this card trial for up to three discrete communities.

One of my roles is to chair the government members' Indigenous affairs committee, and the member for Aston has been very diligent in keeping us up to date on his consultations with those communities.

The trial locations will be chosen on the basis of high welfare dependence and high social harm indicators and also an openness from community leaders to participating in the trial. It needs local support. Ceduna in South Australia has been selected as the first community, and there is strong support locally for the trial. The government is also in advanced discussions with the East Kimberley region in Western Australia for the trial, and there is capacity in the legislation for a third site as well. The trial will operate for 12 months and will be assessed to see if it works before any further decisions are made.

The cashless debit card is not income management. Participants in the trial can use the card anywhere to purchase anything except alcohol and gambling products, and they will not be able to withdraw cash with the card. The card will look and feel like a mainstream debit card product and will be connected to the Visa, MasterCard or EFTPOS platform. Participants in the trial will receive a cashless debit card for the cashless aspect of their welfare, and their existing bank account and card will be used for the cash component of their welfare. In working with the government, community leaders have nominated 80 per cent as a sensible cashless figure. This figure has support in Ceduna, and leaders in the East Kimberley agree it is a sensible figure. The remaining 20 per cent—cash—will be placed into a recipient's bank account. The card would work at every store except those store categories which have been switched off. These would be liquor stores and gambling outlets. In a small number of mixed stores there would be a compliance element. Further, because cash will not be available from the card, illicit substances will not be able to be purchased.

As I said, this is a trial. There is a lot of activity going on now in the area of social services looking at increased participation and reforming welfare, and this is an important part of it as well. The objective of the trial is to reduce the social harm, particularly violence against women and child neglect, caused by welfare fuelled alcohol and drug abuse. When the trial is complete, there will be an independent evaluation. Community leaders in Ceduna have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian government agreeing to be the first trial site. The government has been working closely with local Ceduna leaders over the last few months, listening to their concerns and jointly designing and agreeing on a trial. As I said earlier, the government is in advanced discussions with the East Kimberly community as to it being a potential trial site and is consulting with the broader community before a decision to proceed is made.

Just looking at Ceduna, it has a population of about 4,500 and is located 800 kilometres west of Adelaide. There is very strong support in the community of Ceduna for this trial. Alcohol related harm in this community is very significant. In one year, presentations to the hospital emergency department due to alcohol or drug use exceeded 500—more than one per day. The Ceduna sobering-up facility had 4,666 admissions in 2013-14, and hospitalisations in the region due to assault are 68 times the national average. The Ceduna community heads leadership group, who led consultations in the community and worked with the government, said this of the trial:

We want to build a future for our younger generation to aspire to and believe we cannot do this if our families are caught up in the destructive cycle of alcohol or drugs that destroys our culture, our lands and our communities.

At the heart of this reform is a change that is being shaped specifically to meet our local needs. It has been a true collaboration to ensure that we can give our mob and our Communities every chance to create real and genuine change in their lives.

We have grasped this initiative; we have helped shape this initiative; and we are confident that this initiative is for the betterment of all people within our region.

In the East Kimberley there have been advanced discussions. As recently as July, leaders in the East Kimberley region wrote to the government saying this:

We acknowledge that agreeing to the East Kimberley being a trial site for the restricted debit card may seem to some a rather drastic step. However, it is our view that continuing to deliver the same programs we have delivered for the past forty years will do nothing for our people and, besides wasting more time and money, will condemn our children and future generations to a life of poverty and despair. As leaders in the East Kimberley, we cannot accept this.

In the East Kimberley region, similar to Ceduna, hospitalisations due to assault are 68 times the national average. It is encouraging that the opposition appear to be giving some support for this trial. Hopefully the trial will help inform a new way of delivering welfare without seeing so many problems with alcohol, drugs and gambling. As I said earlier, the member for Aston has been amazing in his work on the debit card. I look forward to seeing the results of the trial.

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