The Australian government in 2016 introduced the trial of a welfare quarantining system, via a cashless debit card (CDC), that aimed to govern how those in receipt of welfare spent the money, with the idea being to prevent the sale of alcohol, cigarettes, and some gift cards, and block the funds from being used on activities such as gambling.
80% of the recipient's funds are placed on the CDC, which is managed by Indue, with the remaining 20% to be paid into a bank account.
As of early March, there were 12,150 participants in the CDC trials[1] across Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, the East Kimberley, Ceduna, and Goldfields regions, with the government saying it had plans to extend the trial into the Northern Territory and Cape York.
Services Australia is charged with oversight of the initiative, and as the agency was inundated[2] with a new wave of welfare payments in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak[3], the government announced it would place a temporary pause on transitioning new participants onto the CDC.
Since then, it has quietly made the decision to make the trial permanent.
Facing Senate Estimates last week, the Department of Social Services was asked if making the card permanent meant Indue was given another contract to continue the scheme.
"Our intent would be, once the legislation has passed, to commence the procurement process," deputy secretary Liz Hefren-Webb said.
See also: Shorten says Centrelink is increasingly targeting vulnerable Australians[4]
She also revealed there was a CDC technology working group, which includes the likes of ANZ Bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, and Westpac, as well as Coles, Woolworths, Metcash, Eftpos, and Australia Post.
"The working group was established to progress technology solutions to consider future options for the cashless