Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Cashless Welfare) Bill 2019. I note with some trepidation that my new colleague from Western Australia Matt O'Sullivan, who gave an absolutely wonderful first speech last night and who is full bottle on this topic, is speaking after me. Hopefully, I don't mess up too badly, Senator O'Sullivan.

This is something I have taken an interest in, as a senator from Western Australia, since my time began in this place. I was fortunate enough as an incoming senator to be on the community affairs committee, and one of my first committee responsibilities was to travel to Kalgoorlie with the community affairs committee and talk to the local community about this very issue. One of the things that was very clear from that time in Kalgoorlie was the sheer desperation that parts of rural and regional areas in particular face in relation to issues of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, other addiction problems and social dysfunction in general. That desperation was voiced by so many people—people from non-Indigenous backgrounds, people from Indigenous backgrounds and, literally, the taxi driver who took me from the airport in Kalgoorlie to the hearing. The desperation and the desire to give people some hope was palpable. In working with the member for O'Connor, Rick Wilson, a good friend of mine, on the cashless debit card trial in Kalgoorlie—and I know that Senator O'Sullivan, in his previous role, also played a part in the development of the cashless debit card—we've seen that granting of hope. We've see people grasp the opportunity to improve their lives that is presented by the cashless debit card.

We understand those opposite have some ideological objections to the underlying idea of the cashless debit card. However, that granting of hope to people in those communities is something that shouldn't be diminished and shouldn't be put aside on the basis of an ideological view of the world. The cashless debit card is about giving people the chance to get control of their own lives again—of their own spending. Of the stories that have come to me from the Kalgoorlie trial, there is one of a young woman who has been able to get control of her financial situation and has been able to buy a car, for the first time in her life, and maintain the operating costs on that car. There are stories of shopkeepers in the town of Coolgardie who have seen families coming in and buying food for their children's lunch for the first time ever. This is an opportunity for people to take control of their financial situation in the face of the absolutely debilitating impacts of drug and alcohol abuse in particular.

This is a community led program. I think that is something that should not be ignored. I know the genesis, particularly in Kalgoorlie, in the Goldfields region, of the cashless debit card. This was not government in Canberra picking a spot; this was community groups in Kalgoorlie and the surrounding areas coming to their local member, Rick Wilson, advocating to be part of this trial. There was extensive consultation within the area involved. There was a postal survey that went out to 18,000 Goldfields households and came back with 85 per cent support for the trial. There was advocacy from local community groups. I spoke to the local mayor, I spoke to the CEO of the local shire, and to the Shire of Laverton and the Shire of Leonora—and I should point out that there is significant Indigenous representation in those local government authorities. These local communities wanted a circuit-breaker, they wanted something to change the dynamic in their community, and that is what the cashless debit card has provided.

Another point—and I have made it in this place before, but it is very important—is that we are looking here at amendments to the regime, and that is because these are trials. This is a process of constant improvement. We know that this is something we need to look at. We need to see what works, and we need to change what doesn't and try again. This is not something that we as a government, as a society, can afford to get wrong. There is too much at stake.

The government believe in a fair go for all and we believe in putting vulnerable people first, but we also have to spend taxpayers' money in a responsible way. We have high expectations of people who are on welfare and we know that those people, who are often in desperate circumstances, do want to regain control of their lives in the face of addiction and want to make a better life for themselves and their families.

The cashless debit card does look and operate like a regular EFTPOS card; however, it can't be used to withdraw cash, gamble or purchase alcohol. Recipients receive 80 per cent of their payments on the card, with the remaining 20 per cent placed in a bank account. The card can be used to pay for everyday expenses such as rent, mortgages and bills; to buy groceries; and to pay for medical appointments, car registration and similar things. The cashless debit card is a fee-free account. People can check their balances and transaction histories for free, and replace lost or stolen cards at no cost. The cashless debit cards provide effective usability for participants, with the ability to transfer funds between cashless debit card accounts and to access online shopping. It's accepted at something like just under a million EFTPOS terminals nationally. It is a user-friendly and innovative way for people to receive income support payments, and we continue to improve it all the time.

There are currently four trial areas: the Ceduna region in South Australia; the East Kimberley region in Western Australia; the Goldfields region, which I have spoken a little about, in Western Australia; and most recently the Bundaberg and Harvey Bay region in Queensland. All of these areas face very different challenges, which is why—again, this was community driven—the government chose them. In the Goldfields region, the card is often thought of as directly impacting more on the Indigenous community there. However, it is always important to note that, of the welfare recipients who are on the cashless debit card program, 50 per cent are actually non-Indigenous.

We have a situation where Kalgoorlie is different to the East Kimberley in terms of its demographic profiles. Bundaberg and Hervey Bay are different again. It's a much younger demographic and targeted as such. This is a government that is committed to seeing what works on the ground and making sure that the rollout is effective—that we monitor the rollout and that we act on the information that we are gaining back.

In the first of the three sites the program applied to all working age welfare participants, but in Hervey Bay and Bundaberg it targeted those under 35. So, again, we are seeking to gain the information on where this is most effective and how we can use this as a tool to help people take control of their own lives.

There are around 11,200 people on the cashless card trial across those four sites. Again, this has been developed in close partnership with community leaders and looks to address those devastating impacts of drug and alcohol that I've talked about.

The government has talked about and committed to expanding the cashless debit card to the Northern Territory and Cape York regions of Queensland in 2020. Again, that will offer another snapshot into another set of issues at the local level.

Why do we need this bill? This bill allows the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to be the decision-maker for all cashless debit card exit applications and broadens the criteria for the exit provisions to allow the secretary to take into account a person's ability to manage their affairs generally, including their financial affairs. The bill clarifies that exit applications need to be made in a form that is approved by the secretary and expands the wellbeing exemption provisions, so they apply more broadly across the regions.

Changes are needed to fix the exit process that was introduced by the opposition earlier this year as an amendment to legislation that extended the cashless debit card program beyond 30 June 2019. Following the passage of these amendments feedback from community representatives indicated a lack of support for the new exit process and particularly the role of community bodies as decision-makers. Community stakeholders also indicated that any process to exit the program should be based on a participant meeting social norms, as well as the current criteria relating to financial management. Without the critical support of the community bodies and agreement to make decisions on these applications it is not possible to implement the exit process as provided for under the current provisions.

The exit application process is accessible to all participants. The criteria to be considered by the decision-maker is outlined in the legislation. This criteria is applied to each participant's own circumstances, however, it may vary. Therefore, a phone interview will ensure that participants have an opportunity for a fair and equitable assessment by taking into account these differences at a time that suits them.

This bill will amend the exit criteria to allow broader consideration of a person's affairs, including their financial affairs. This allows full consideration of all factors, such as the impact on children and family safety. This change to the criteria is in line with the feedback from consultation with community stakeholders and is consistent with the broader social objectives of the cashless debit card program.

This bill will amend the exit process to reflect the feedback from consultation and to require applications to be made in a form approved by the secretary. The amendments also enable the secretary to make a determination in relation to applications, which will be a reviewable decision.

These amendments will also move the exit and wellbeing exemption arrangements under one subdivision of the Social Security (Administration) Act. This removes differences in decision-making processes, increasing consistency and fairness for participants across trial areas, regardless of whether a person is a participant in a trial area where there is a community body in place.

CDC participants can be also be exited from the trial if they were incorrectly placed on the trial or if they no longer meet the participation criteria. This is different to the wellbeing exemption process where a CDC participant could be exempted from the trial if being on the trial could pose a serious risk to their mental, physical or emotional wellbeing.

Just briefly in winding up, I think it is important to note that the government did commit, as part of this process, to ongoing reviews of the cashless debit card in place. The first of those, from the Adelaide University, was published in February this year. It looked in particular at the Goldfields region. It has a section, which I want to go through briefly, on the early impacts of the cashless debit card. I'll read out some of the observations. It says:

... a majority of respondents were of the opinion that early impacts were starting to be observed. These impacts primarily centred on alcohol and drug use and misuse, child welfare and well-being, spending and financial management, financial abuse, crime and domestic violence, and support services.

Levels of substance misuse (and especially alcohol misuse) were reported by many respondents to have reduced in the Goldfields since the introduction of the CDC. Likewise, alcohol-related anti-social behaviour and crime had also decreased.

It goes on to say:

Early positive impacts relating to improvements in child welfare and well-being were commonly reported by respondents with beneficial outcomes of the CDC perceived to be flowing down from participants to their families.

I'll contrast that again—the positives that are coming out of the analysis of the cashless debit card trials—with some of the comments I got on that first trip to Kalgoorlie. The mayor of Kalgoorlie, John Bowler, said:

Locals who live here complain to me about what's happening. They want a solution. I've been almost pulling my hair out—the little bit of hair I've got—asking: what is a solution?

He went on to talk about how the community has been contacting him about the problems they have. He then said:

I then drove to Ceduna to experience it firsthand and make my own observations. I spoke to people ... I spoke to the deputy mayor, I spoke to retailers in the town and townspeople and got the same picture: they were glad that it had been introduced. They said there were some complaints, but even some who initially had been opposed to the card had really come around to say that life generally was better, particularly for those living on the streets.

Patrick Hill, President of the Shire of Laverton, said:

Everyone in town—the police, the hospital, the school, the Laverton Crisis Centre, the ambulance, the fire brigade, the resident group, the shire—has done everything possible to try and stem this abuse and the effects that alcohol, drugs and gambling have on our towns and the availability of cash. Council has formally adopted and supports the cashless welfare card because we see this as an opportunity to try and do something. We have had up to 50 agencies come into Laverton to try and address these social issues, and we do have our Laverton inter-agency group meetings to come up with solutions to try and stem this violence.

Mr Hill went on to say:

This will at least give us breathing space to do something and sit back and analyse where things can be done better and what we can do better as a community. We see it every single day. We have done everything we can as a community to try and solve some of these issues that we've got.

I could go on. There are many more. We heard from Mr Jim Epis, chief executive of the Shire of Leonora. We heard from business owners in Kalgoorlie. We heard from community groups in the Goldfields region. People wanted the chance to try and change the social dynamic, the dysfunction that was occurring in their community. It is a desperately sad situation. I've heard ministers on this side repeatedly say that the cashless debit card is not a silver bullet, and we on this side all understand that. It is not of itself the solution. However, it can be a part of a broader solution. It can be the circuit-breaker that helps people take back control of their lives. I support the bill.