“it is difficult to conclude whether there had been a reduction in social harm and whether the card was a lower cost welfare quarantining approach.” [Australian National Audit Office ANAO, The Implementation and Performance of the Cashless Debit Card Trial (Performance Audit Report, 1 of 2018-2019)]
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.....
His minister said.....
YOUTH unemployment has dropped since the cashless welfare card was introduced to Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, while the number of people in the region on welfare has fallen at double the national rate.
For the first time the impact of the controversial card can be revealed, as a push for the trial to be rolled out nationally intensifies.
The trial was rolled out in the region in January this year, the first test sites outside predominantly indigenous communities.
The card quarantines about 80 per cent of dole payments so they can’t be used for drugs, alcohol or gambling. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston, in Hervey Bay today, will reveal the number of people on Newstart or Youth Allowance has dropped.
In Bundaberg people on the welfare payments dropped 8.7 per cent, or by 502 people, to 5277 recipients in the past year, while in Hervey Bay there has been a 10 per cent fall to 3482 recipients.
This compares to a five per cent drop of people on Newstart or Youth Allowance nationally. Youth unemployment in the region has dropped from 19.8 per cent in January to 18.5 per cent last month.
Senator Ruston said the region was “punching above its weight” with the significant reduction in people relying on welfare payments.
“We believe the cashless debit card is supporting people to demonstrate personal responsibility for their finances, helping to encourage financial independence and addressing intergenerational welfare dependence,” she said.
There are 5746 people in the region on the CDC, while about 700 people have come off the card, either because they found work or they were suspended from welfare payments for breaching the rules.
Hinkler MP Keith Pitt said if the trial was successful it should be rolled out nationally for people under 35. [my yellow highlighting]
Siewert said......
Fraser Coast Chronicle, 3 September 2019:
It was disappointing to see the government once again spread misinformation about the Cashless Debit Card in the Hinkler region.
The government claims that unemployment has dropped in the Queensland trial site but they have used the data for the much larger region of Wide Bay as the basis for this claim.
It’s like saying that unemployment has dropped in Canberra using the figures for the whole of NSW and I urge people to look more closely at their claims.
Unemployment figures in the Wide Bay area dropped quite a bit before the trial started and have changed slightly since the card’s introduction and if you actually go and look at the raw data, they are clearly subject to seasonal variation.
If government really has the evidence to prove it’s working, then release it.
If they are making these claims on data they have available it should be released for all to see.
Communities are crying out for more support and services but instead community members are put on a card that makes life harder for them.
The issues that this card is purported to address are complex and need individualised approaches to address.
Despite the ANAO report saying there is no evidence of a reduction of social harm the government wants to continue to roll out the card.
My office hears from people constantly who cannot pay their rent or bills using the card, who have problems with the card, who are not able to use cash economies like markets, second hand shops or op-shops to help them make ends meet.
RACHEL SIEWERT
Greens Senator for Western Australia
[my yellow highlighting]
No comments:
Post a Comment