About 1,000 South Australians to have control of their own budgets as cashless debit card is ‘killed’ off

In Ceduna and South Australia’s far west more than 1,000 people who have been living on the cashless debit card since 2016 now have the option to throw it away. 

Next Tuesday the 17,000 people on the card in SA, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory will have the choice to scrap it after amended legislation to abolish the program passed the senate overnight.

The piece of plastic quarantines 80 per cent of a person’s income so it cannot be spent on alcohol, gambling, or withdrawn cash.

For the District Council of Ceduna, which was supportive of the scheme, the debate on whether the card was useful or not has finally come to an end.

“The council believed that the card has improved the appearance of the Ceduna community for travellers and other people in the wider Eyre Peninsula region,” finance and administration manager Ben Taylor said.

Mr Taylor said the council was concerned that the change would not be carried out in the orderly manner promised by the government.

Fear of long-term stress

Mr Taylor said there would be extra staff at Service SA on Tuesday but it was likely there would be a significant numbers of clients presenting as well as ongoing strain.

“Not just in the next week or two with the immediate influx of people withdrawing from the card, but potentially up until Christmas time,” he said.

Mr Taylor also said there were worries that the card could lead to an increase in Ceduna’s population, which would put pressure on various services, including police.

The card’s abolition, he said, meant more people might come to Ceduna from dry communities that lacked services.

“Ceduna saw a significant increase in its population last year when there was COVID support payments and payments as a result of money being taken out of superannuation funds,” Mr Taylor said.

The council said it was not aware of an immediate increase of services being provided at the federal and state levels.

‘Forced into poverty’

Djirra chief executive and Change the Record co-chair Antoinette Braybrook, who provided evidence during the CDC inquiry, said there was proof the card made life harder for those forced to use it.

“Preventing family violence is often cited as a reason for the cashless debit card, despite no evidence that its operation has reduced family violence in participating communities,” she said.

“We know what does reduce family violence, which is giving women financial autonomy, housing security and community support — that is where the government should focus its energies.”

The Kuku Yalanji woman told the ABC that she wanted the card replaced with a social security payment above the poverty line as a first step.

“The government should be investing in strengthening our communities and our community-controlled programs,” she said.

“The problem isn’t that people can’t make good financial decisions.

“The problem is people are being forced into poverty by Centrelink payments that are frankly far too low.”

‘Why have the problems?’

The card was introduced by the previous Liberal government with the full support of the Liberal MP for Grey, Rowan Ramsey.

Mr Ramsey said the card was his preferred method to deal with antisocial behaviour.

“I imagine the people who are alcoholics, who are drug takers and who want to gamble will get off the card as soon as they can next week, and I expect associated social issues to occur with that,” he said.

“In effect, the government has killed the card.”

Mr Ramsey said a government pledge of $49 million for remedial drug and alcohol services across the trial sites was in the process of being worked out.

“I would have thought that is a pretty clear admission that the card is reducing those things,” he said.

“They’ve already allowed a heap of money to deal with the problems, but why have the problems?

“I will be letting the federal government know if things go pear-shaped and it’ll be their responsibility to deal with the trouble that they have caused.”

Concerns about service gap

SA Council of Social Services chief executive Ross Womersley welcomed the government’s move to abolish the scheme.

“The way that the card operated has meant that a whole lot of people were denied opportunities to exercise due control over their budgets,” he said.

Mr Womersley said he was concerned there would not be enough support available by the time people could opt out on October 4.

“We know that still in the Ceduna area there are people who are struggling to find work, there are many people who are struggling with health issues and struggling to access decent quality housing,” he said.

“So we need those services available as quickly as possible.

“Our suspicion is that there isn’t necessarily the adequate number of services, despite promises to continue to invest in the Ceduna community with some of these wraparound services.

“We could expect that for the next few months that people may struggle as they’re obliged to take back control over their own spending.”