Cashless Welfare Card hardly reduces alcohol spending at all
The Indue Cashless Debit Card reduced spending on grog by …… $88 per year, per person in one of the trial sites.
Data released by the government shows that the Indue Cashless Debit Card scheme hardly reduces alcohol spending at all.
Over 5 years to April 2021, the Cashless Debit Card issued by Centrelink in five ‘trial’ communities has reduced spending on alcohol in Ceduna by just $220,000 in total.
Monash University researcher Luke Greenacre told ABC News that equals about $80 per person per year.
Tim Wildash, CEO of Next Payments,* (an ATM network) said people on cashless welfare card programs are at risk of being left without the ability to buy food and essentials if there is a cashless payment outage.
“Cash is used by many people on low incomes to get good deals, budget effectively and place self-imposed limits on their spending,” said Mr Wildash
Jason Bryce, Freelance Journalist 