Figures show there has been a mass exodus from the federal government's cashless debit card trial since it was made optional, but critics warn it will lead to an increase in alcohol-fuelled violence in remote communities.
The scheme was introduced in 2016 and quarantined 80 per cent of a person's welfare payments onto a card that could not be used for alcohol or gambling.
Four trial sites were established nationwide — at Ceduna in South Australia, the east Kimberley and Goldfields regions in Western Australia, and at Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Queensland.
Federal Labor's election promise to abolish the controversial card was fulfilled last month when legislation passed the Senate.
It enabled welfare recipients to opt out of the trial from October 4. They have since voted with their feet.
Figures supplied by the Department of Social Services show in the week to October 10, a total of 5,152 people, or nearly half of the 12,302 participants nationwide, transitioned off the card.
Of the 41.8 per cent of participants who left the trial, 2,502 were indigenous Australians.
The biggest trial site at Bundaberg and Hervey Bay has seen 1,813 of 4,118 participants opt out of the trial.
In the second-biggest trial site, the WA Goldfields, 45.9 per cent of 2,459 participants transitioned off the card.
No 'clear evidence' the program worked
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the former Liberal-National government spent more than $170 million on the cashless debit card program.
She said the government would work closely with local communities to ensure they were supported through the change.
"The fact that 41 per cent of the eligible people have volunteered to come off the cashless debit card in the first week speaks to its unpopularity," Ms Rishworth said.
"We knew from the comprehensive community consultation that we undertook that the card was stigmatising and it simply didn’t work.
"This is backed up by research and evaluations of the scheme, including the Australian National Audit Office Report, which was unable to find clear evidence the program decreased gambling, alcohol misuse or domestic, family and sexual violence."
End to unleash 'tsunami' of problems
WA Liberal MP Rick Wilson, who successfully lobbied for the card to be trialled in the Goldfields, criticised the government's decision.
"The removal of the card will unleash a tsunami of alcohol and drug-fuelled anti-social violence, and particularly domestic violence," he said.
"There's no question that the people who will suffer will be the women and children in those households where drugs and alcohol are being abused."
Mr Wilson said the card works, despite a lack of supporting data.
"Anecdotally I've heard some wonderful stories about how it has made a huge difference in some people's lives, and I accept that not everyone was happy to be on the card," he said.
Shire of Laverton president Pat Hill said he was "devastated" the card had been abolished, saying he believed it had made a significant difference since its introduction in 2018.
He said people living in the small northern Goldfields town had been treated like "political pawns".
"They have got no idea in Canberra what happens out here," Mr Hill said.
"They make decisions on the east coast, which have huge ramifications to our remote communities and towns.
"The decisions they make and the social ramifications, just to be politically correct, is absolutely shocking."
