MANDATORY DRUG TESTING AND THE CASHLESS DEBIT CARD FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS


I have read the report on the trial on which the Government’s planned expansion of the trial is based. You can read it here: https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/03_2017/final_cdct_evaluation_-_wave_1_interim_evaluation_report_9_february_2017.pdf. This trial seems to have certain flaws, for example in in some communities as many as 49 percent of people refused to participate in the trial. But broadly I appreciate that given increased rates of alcohol consumption by young people, the Ice/methamphetamine epidemic, and the real threat of terrorism, Government seeks ways to control how welfare payments are spent. Because otherwise policing these social problems will become too expensive and not effective. For this I believe the cashless welfare card will be deemed to be a success, and will be retained under future governments. However, the Government’s cashless welfare trial only solves half of the problem. The other side of the problem is that welfare payment amounts are too low to cover high rents, high electricity prices, the cost of food and personal care. Add to this the expenses that students and jobseekers incur such as textbooks, transport fees and driving lessons, and household goods and technology (computers, software, and phones). Meg Webb of Anglicare Tasmania has stated “in the immediate sense income support payments from the government need to be raised to liveable levels” (https://livestream.com/UniversityofTasmania/events/7255283?t=1493691139). A graph on the Unemployed Workers Union of Australia website dramatically illustrates how current welfare payments to young people and job seekers are well below the poverty line: http://unemployedworkersunion.com/newstart-vs-poverty-line/.

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