Our submission to the inquiry into legislation that would make the Cashless Debit Card permanent, and extend it to the Northern Territory, is online (no. 105).

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/CashlessWelfareContinua/Submissions

We make five arguments against the extension of the cashless debit card:

1. The first, and perhaps most important, is that it contradicts the commitment made by all Australian governments to shared decision making in the new Closing the Gap Agreement.

In February, the Prime Minister committed to the end of the "government knows best".

And yet Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APONT), a member of the Coalition of Peaks, strongly oppose the introduction of the card to the NT.

The Department's consultations regarding the Bill have been about "providing information", not shared decision making.

In short, we argue that the Cashless Debit Card breaks the promises made by the Commonwealth in the new Closing the Gap Agreement.

Its incredibly disappointing to see the Government walk away from these commitments less than six months after they were made.

2. We also argue that the Card is an affront to the dignity of participants.

Social security is meant to be about supporting those who are unable to support themselves to live with dignity. There is now ample evidence to show that the Cashless Debit Card does the opposite.

3. Third, there is very little evidence supporting the Card's efficacy in meeting the Government's stated goals.

The primary evidence relied on in this regard is the ORIMA evaluation, which even the audit office panned as unreliable on the basis of its weak methodology.

Worse still, we learnt in Senate Estimates last week that the Department have the second evaluation report in their hands. But they won't commit to releasing it before the Senate votes on the Bill.

This is outrageous in my view.

4. We now have 13 years of evidence showing that Basics Card in the NT hasn't delivered the promised outcomes. In fact, may important indicators have been getting worse in recent years (e.g. low birth weight, school attendance, incarceration, etc.).

https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2020/7/CAEPR_WP_no_136_2020_Bray_0.pdf

5. Finally, the Bill shifts the goal posts on what the objectives of the program are. It is now being framed as a measure to reduce welfare dependency and to improve budgeting and money management.

There is little reason to believe it will be effective in either regard.

In short, we don't think the Senate should pass the Bill. There's no real evidence that it works, it causes shame and stigma, and its undermining the new Closing the Gap Agreement before its even started.

There's still time for the Senate to block this legislation.