Cashless welfare cards are being rolled out across the West Australian Goldfields after two trial sites showed some positive results.
An independent evaluation of the scheme in the towns of Ceduna in South Australia and East Kimberly in Western Australia found it had led to significant decreases in harmful behavior caused by drinking and gambling among those involved in the trial.
Declaring the Ceduna and East Kimberly trials a success, the government announced the WA Goldfields as the third trial site, to be rolled out early next year.
It quarantines 80 per cent of welfare payments to the debit card so it can't be spent on alcohol, drugs or gambling.
The Australian stresses that the positive health and social outcomes were unprecedented, saying significant reductions occurred in drinking, drug and gambling dependence, family violence, arrests, assaults and alcohol-related hospital admissions; parents spent more time with their children, who were better fed, and families were more involved with schoolwork.
The paper points out that any moves by Labor to join the Greens in the Senate to block further rollouts of the card would be unconscionable.
The Australian also suggests that the same approach will be used for the governments drug-testing trial among unemployed welfare recipients in order to help jobseekers overcome drug problems and secure work.
