A government push to expand the cashless welfare card to areas of Cape York and the Northern Territory faces a roadblock in the Senate, with crossbenchers saying they will need to analyse the bill closely before they can support it.
NT Labor Senator, Malarndirri McCarthy, has expressed concerns over the move, saying there is no clinical evidence to say that income control helps to reduce addiction.
Under the cashless debit card scheme that has been in place since 2016, up to 80% of a person’s welfare is quarantined to a bank card that cannot be spent on alcohol or gambling.