The cashless social welfare card will be canceled after a new report found that the program did not show a reduction in social harm. Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth announced that the report, published by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), highlighted the “lack of evidence to prove the effectiveness” of the card.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Ms Rishworth said news meetings had already begun to discuss the termination of cashless social welfare cards “fulfilling Labor’s electoral commitment”.
“The former coalition government spent more than $ 170 million on the privatized cashless debit card, money that could have been spent on services that locals need,” Rishworth said. Auditor General Grant Hehir’s scathing report said the government had not “demonstrated that the cashless debit card program is meeting its goals.” profit analysis.
Hehir called the department’s oversight “highly effective,” but criticized the lack of internal control over the performance of Morrison’s former government.
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“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, placing up to 80 percent of a social assistance beneficiary’s payments on the card. They cannot withdraw money placed on the card to purchase alcohol, gambling, or similar cash products. The trial affected many of Ceduna’s largest indigenous peoples in South Australia; the East Kimberley region of Western Australia; the Goldfields region in Western Australia; the Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Cape York regions of Queensland; and the Northern Territory. The card had been used by the previous coalition government as a solution to encourage socially responsible behavior by limiting the amount of cash that can be spent on drugs and alcohol.
In response, the Department of Social Services accepted a recommendation to develop internal performance measures and targets to assess whether the program is effective.
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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 2022. An ANAO report in 2018 found that monitoring and evaluation of the program by the department it was “insufficient.”
The Albanian government promised to abandon the card, but said it would first consult with communities where the plan had been tested.