Social Services Minister Dan Tehan has raised the prospect of introducing the cashless welfare card to Tennant Creek.
Malcolm Turnbull is visiting the troubled Northern Territory town as the federal government looks at ways to curb alcohol-fuelled violence and sexual assault.
Introducing the card was raised in meetings with the prime minister.
Mr Tehan, who is also in Tennant Creek, the community is "very interested" in the cards, which quarantine a large chunk of welfare payments from being spent on booze and gambling.
"They've seen and heard what's happening in Ceduna and the real impacts on the ground there," Mr Tehan told AAP.
In 2016, welfare recipients in Ceduna in South Australia and West Australian mining town Kalgoorlie were placed on the cashless welfare card trial.
The government stands by the scheme despite an audit last week which found data about its effectiveness was unreliable.
Mr Turnbull on Sunday promised to work with indigenous people rather than impose decisions on them, while Mr Tehan is adamant cashless debit cards need to have community support.
"From what I have seen whether it be in Kalgoorlie or Ceduna, it's driven by the community," the minister said.
On Sunday - a dry day in Tennant Creek - the evening streets were relatively quiet as AAP toured with the Youth Night Patrol, a council-supported service to safely transport children.
Weeks earlier Mr Tehan had driven around the town on a different night.
"Alcohol is one of the issues that needs to be dealt with," he said.
"You see the difference between what's occurring on the streets on a Sunday compared to what we saw when we were here three weeks ago."
Outside Sundays, alcohol limits bottle shop customers to a three-hour window to buy a slab of heavy beer of 750ml of spirits.
Other options include two 750ml bottles of wine or a cask of up to 2L a day.
"It's something that all levels of government need to discuss with the community to see whether there needs to be heavier restrictions" Mr Tehan said.
