Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I finished my contribution on the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Repeal of Cashless Debit Card and Other Measures) Bill 2022 by saying that I was very worried that the government's motives for this legislation were dismissing the fact that, when faced with very difficult challenges, we need not let the perfect get in the way of the good. In fact, as one stakeholder put it, the cashless debit card is not a silver bullet, but it is something, and we can build on it. In fact, the cashless debit card is an advanced technology that's accepted now at more than one million businesses right across Australia. That's far more than the less than 16,000 merchants that accept the BasicsCard, which was operating under the former Labor government. It's a very practical tool that assists users in managing their money. It helps people to focus on what it is that they need to deliver better health outcomes for individuals and, most importantly, positive change in their communities.

The critics of the card will talk about the increased stigma of welfare recipients and say that it prevents their freedom of choice and is discriminatory or is based specifically on Indigenous communities. That's not right. So let's get the facts straight. In fact, the cashless debit card looks and operates just like a regular bankcard. It cannot be used to withdraw cash or to buy alcohol or gambling products, along with some specific gift cards that would enable these purchases. Importantly, the cashless debit card does not change the amount of money people receive from the government. Welfare payments for Ceduna, Goldfields, East Kimberley and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay region participants are allocated as 20 per cent in the regular bank account and then 80 per cent onto the cashless debit card. In the Northern Territory, participants receive the same payment split that they received under income management. And in most cases cashless debit card participants in the Northern Territory receive their welfare payment allocation with 50 per cent in the regular bank account and 50 per cent on the card. In the Cape York region in Queensland, participants receive the same payments they received on income management. Users can operate internet banking and can tap and pay with their cards.

Over 17,000 participants are now using the cashless debit card, and this isn't an insignificant number given the populations of the locations in which the card operates. The communities where the cashless debit card has been employed—Ceduna, East Kimberley, Goldfields in Western Australia, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Cape York—have disproportionately high incidences of drug and alcohol related issues. They also include higher than average rates of social security dependency and even intergenerational social security dependency. An independent impact evaluation by the University of Adelaide that was released in 2021 looked into the cashless debit card and found that 25 per cent of people reported drinking less since the introduction of the cashless debit card; 21 per cent of CDC participants reported gambling less with the cash that was previously used for gambling and instead spent it on essentials, such as food; and 45 per cent of cashless debit card participants reported that it improved things for themselves and for their families.

More than a dozen evaluations of income management have provided consistent evidence about welfare quarantining. Most importantly, it's a dramatic improvement on what existed before. The BasicsCard, which was operated under the former Labor government, could be used only in certain stores and was less flexible in its operation. The cashless debit card operates in communities regardless. Labor has walked away from the participants in each of these cashless debit cards and from their communities. For the coalition, this is not about ideology. It's about what works. It's about what people want. But unfortunately, despite these positive results, Labor is now abolishing the program. Even more concerning, it's clear that the decision was taken without consultation with the communities that this program mostly benefits.

Among the amendments that have been discussed today, amendments have been moved to allow the Cape York CDC trial site and those people in the NT who have voluntarily transitioned from the BasicsCard onto the CDC to remain on the CDC. While some of these amendments do go some way to walk back this unfortunate policy, the intention of the bill is to repeal the cashless debit card, which was put into communities as an important financial management tool to help improve people's lives, particularly the lives of some of Australia's most vulnerable.

In concluding my remarks, I want to reinforce just how disappointed I am that the government is seeking to extend the BasicsCard in the Northern Territory without consultation and without transparency whilst at the same time seeking to wind back the cashless debit card. Even though the government is seeking to walk back its bill with the amendments that have been moved and the provisioning of $50 million for additional drug and alcohol support services—because they themselves now realise the significant issues that will come if this critical program is watered down or repealed—the evidence clearly shows that the cashless debit card is a significant piece of welfare infrastructure in the communities in which it operates. More importantly, it is working. The idea that it would be repealed is a callous act of this government. It should not be removed, because of the importance of the effectiveness of the program, and the government should rightly be condemned for its act to do so.