The cashless welfare card has not been shown to have helped reduce social harm, according to a scathing report by the Auditor General.
The Department of Social Services also failed to implement the above recommendations to evaluate the program and conduct a cost-benefit analysis.
Auditor General Grant Hehir said in the report, presented to parliament, that the government had not “demonstrated that the cashless debit card program is meeting its objectives”.
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Hehir called the department’s oversight “highly effective,” but criticized the lack of internal monitoring of Morrison’s government’s performance.
“The extension and expansion of the cashless debit card program did not report a second effective impact assessment, a cost-benefit analysis, or a post-implementation review,” he says. the report.
The federal government began testing the program in 2016. Under the plan, up to 80% of a social assistance recipient’s payments are placed on the card and cannot be used to withdraw money for buy alcohol or gambling products.
The card has been used as a solution to encourage socially responsible behavior by limiting the amount of cash that can be spent on drugs or other addictions.
In response, the Department of Social Services accepted a recommendation to develop internal performance measures and targets to assess whether the program is effective.
But he rejected an external review of the second assessment of the extension of the trial, as the department believed it would not give money to taxpayers.
“An external review will not generate additional evidence or knowledge and will only reiterate data availability and accessibility limitations,” the department’s response said.
The cost of the program in 2020/21 reached $ 36.5 million, with 16,685 people participating in February.
A report from the Australian National Audit Office in 2018 found that the department’s monitoring and evaluation of the program was “insufficient”.
The Albanian government promised to abandon the card, but said it would first consult with communities where the plan had been tested.
In a statement, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said she had already begun receiving information from the department about the completion of the program.
“The former coalition government spent more than $ 170 million on the privatized debit card without cash, money that could have been spent on services that the locals need,” Rishworth said.