The abolition of the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) for welfare recipients after a critical report has been welcomed by some in communities where it was trialled.
The report by the Australian National Audit Office found that the Department of Social Services had not been able to show the program was meeting its objectives.
Citing the report, the new federal Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said briefings had been held to discuss terminating the CDC.
"The former Coalition government spent more than $170 million on the privatised Cashless Debit Card, money that could have been spent on services locals need," she said.
Since 2016 the CDC, which could not be directly used to buy alcohol or for gambling, has been trialled across the country including at Ceduna in South Australia, the Goldfields in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory.
In Ceduna, its legacy has been polarising, with the policy popular with incumbent politicians while being criticised by front-line service providers.
'Remarkable' potential overshadowed by problems
Michele Jacobsen, who worked in social services in Ceduna for more than a decade and supported clients placed on the card, said while there were high hopes for the card when it was introduced, cracks soon emerged.
"Once we got through the teething issues, there was a remarkable benefit to the people who were suffering from the issues that the card was introduced for," Ms Jacobsen said.
"However, there was a demographic that didn't suffer from those issues who were disadvantaged by the card."
Ms Jacobsen said things did not improve for most people on the card.
"Unfortunately, if you're not going to address the reason why people need to be on such a controlled card, then the card itself is not going to work — there are workarounds for anything," she said.
"The desperation of having that cash outweighed their need for the money."
'No training' for social workers
Ms Jacobsen said social workers had to act as "middlemen" between clients and Indue, the bank that stored the restricted income, despite having no direct access to the system.
"We didn't have access to anything, there was no training, we weren't actually employed by the bank.
"The client had to have an email address, they had to have access to a phone. A lot of our clients, for various reasons, wouldn't have regular access to those things.
"To have all of that infrastructure put in place for the card and then scrap it is disappointing. It's a big waste of money."
MP calls for CDC expansion
Ceduna's federal representative, Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey, said he was alarmed by the government's moves to scrap the CDC.
"My general conversation on the ground in Ceduna is that it is making a difference," Mr Ramsey said.
"It's all very well to say well this doesn't work and that doesn't work, but I think you should have a very good idea of what you're going to do next if you remove the supports that sit in place at the moment, and I am not convinced that anybody knows what to do next."
Mr Ramsey said he considered the CDC to be a success and would like to see it implemented further.
"I'm disappointed personally that it hasn't gone wider across Australia at this stage," he said.
"It is not the cure-all, but if it's making a difference, we should keep it."
