Submission on the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Cashless Debit Card Transition) Bill 2019

Submission to Parliamentary Enquiry on the Cashless Debit Card1) 1)The process of this Bill is unacceptably fast, leaving no possibility of adequate consultation, let alone partnership, with the affected remote-living Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 2) The continuing high public cost of this program and plans to expand it with still no adequate independent evidence for its effectiveness, three and a half years from its commencement, is unjustifiable. 3) It would be better to spend the allocated funds on approaches to the problems ostensibly being addressed by the Cashless Debit Card on programs and approaches that we know work. Aboriginal people and other welfare recipients deserve this respect