From Tuesday, more than 6,700 recipients of Newstart, Youth Allowance and parenting payments residing in the towns of Harvey Bay and Bundaberg, Queensland, will be receiving 80% of these payments on a special cashless welfare card which cannot be used for gambling and alcohol. The remaining 20% of the payments will be put in the recipients’ nominated bank accounts.
This is the fourth and so far biggest launch of the federal government’s trial of the Centrelink cashless welfare card, which has already been launched with mixed results in Kimberley and Goldfields regions in Western Australia and South Australia’s Ceduna. Now, the Wide Bay region is to become the first urban area to participate in the trial that has unleashed a lot of controversy in the community.
The roll-out of the new card comes as part of the Government’s efforts to control welfare recipients’ access to alcohol, drugs and gambling.
As mentioned above, the opinions of the community have been divided on the matter, with the proponents of the measure saying that the community will be better off that way. Others, however, claim that the measure will make their lives harder, as they will be left with very little cash.
Federal Government Wants to Help Poorer Communities
The change will affect individuals who receive Newstart, Youth Allowance or parenting payments under the age of 35. As reported above, under the new rules, 80% of the recipient’s income will be transferred to the cashless card, while the remaining 20% will be transferred into their nominated bank account, so they will be able to withdraw that money and use it as cash in case they want to.
The federal government is trying to target certain areas, which, according to the Australian Government Department of Social Services, are home to communities which face high rates of unemployment, compulsive gambling and an increasing number of problem gamblers, different age groups who are at risk of alcohol or drug abuse, domestic violence, etc.
The measure follows a report released by the Australian National Audit Office in July 2018, which condemned the monitoring and evaluation of the Department of Social Services as inadequate. Its major goal is helping the authorities deal with social harm which has been emerging as a large number of problem gamblers, drug and alcohol addicts, and as rising crime rates.
For several years, such areas have been affected by the negative impact of the notorious poker machines, known as pokies, with more disadvantaged citizens, and especially the ones who receive welfare payments, getting hooked on gambling on such machines. Reportedly, one in five individuals in the area receives some form of income support from the government, but the authorities would like to see this money used for improving such people’s lives instead of being used for gambling, or buying alcohol/tobacco/other substances which could have a detrimental impact on people’s health.
- Author
Daniel Williams
