Success for cashless welfare card in East Kimberley

Written on the 6 November 2016

Malcolm Turnbull will consider rolling out the cashless welfare card widely after [a recent trial in the East Kimberley and South Australia].

The card, which quarantines 80 per cent of a person's welfare benefits on a cashless card and leaves them 20 per cent in cash, was introduced in Ceduna on March 15 and in Western Australia's East Kimberley on April 26.

A report, due to be released today, found the use of the card has significantly cut homelessness at both trial sites.

...

The number of people admitted to a ­sobering-up unit in Wyndham, in the Kimberley, fell by 69 per cent from April to September. Domestic violence incid­ent reports were down 13 per cent from April to July, but general ­assaults slightly increased.

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Source: The Australian