Report finds axing cashless debit card led to crime and misery in Indigenous communities

Axing the cashless debit card in Indigenous communities has led to a surge in gambling, public drunkenness and alcohol-related violence, with more children going hungry, missing school and wandering the streets at night.

A federal government report has found axing the cashless debit card in Indigenous communities has led to a surge in gambling, public drunkenness and alcohol-related violence, with more children going hungry, missing school and wandering the streets at night.

The bombshell findings, which confirm dire warnings made before Labor axed the card in Indigenous communities, are laid out in a report commissioned by the government and released under Freedom of Information laws.

Written by academics at the University of Adelaide, it says admissions to hospital emergency departments have also increased since the card was abolished.

The authors found in all areas the card has been abolished there had been “a large increase in the numbers of people seeking emergency relief services”, including “access to food vouchers and boxes, clothes, and the payment of items such as school fees, fuel and car registration”.

The report, which also includes criticism about the speed with which the card scheme was abolished, has led to renewed Opposition calls for the card to be restored to protect vulnerable Indigenous communities.

Opposition Social Services spokesman Michael Sukkar opposing the government’s changes to the cashless debit card in 2022. Picture: Gary Ramage

The report is based on interviews with people in the Bundaberg-Hervey Bay community in Queensland, Ceduna in South Australia, and the East Kimberley and Goldfields in Western Australia, with one local telling the authors “the gambling, the alcohol, violence on the street” was “all back”.

“It happened immediately here, as soon as that (the CDC) ceased … the impact was immediate. It’s affected not only adults but the kids as well.”

Community members told the authors people were spending more of their money on alcohol and gambling products rather than purchasing groceries or paying bills.

“Other people wanted to get off it because they like alcohol and … now they got more alcohol and cigarettes than they got food on the table for some people. They just blow it all on grog. The next day they scratching their head for food,” one interviewee said.

Another told the authors past cashless card users “know that they can get the access to cash now, they’ll just go and spend it straight at the pub instead of having those priorities set in place where money (is) set aside for the kids’ food.”

The report concludes the “qualitative evidence suggested that alcohol consumption and misuse increased considerably in Ceduna, East Kimberley and the Goldfields (after) the card’s abolition”, with “incidence of public drinking and intoxication … also perceived to have risen, along with the consumption of higher alcohol products and rates of alcohol-related violence”.

Gambling was reported to have increased in Ceduna and East Kimberley.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth says data for the report was 12 months old and attitudes may have changed since then. Picture: Dean Martin

Some interviewees told the authors that while they had not been in favour of the cashless debit card while it was in operation and supported its removal, their views had changed.

“The Cashless Debit Card, I was not for it. But then now that it’s gone, I have to say, holy moly, it really did make a difference,” one said.

Opposition Social Services spokesman Michael Sukkar said the card’s abolition was having devastating consequences for the affected communities.

“Not only has violence, public drinking, intoxication and gambling increased, as the Coalition predicted it would, but drastic increases in the number of children not being fed or clothed properly, not attending school and being out on the streets unsupervised at night has occurred,” he said.

“The tragedy here is not only for the communities experiencing a spike in alcohol-fuelled violence, but for the innocent children that are being abused and neglected as a result.”

He said Labor had “repeatedly ignored” the Coalition’s warnings that abolishing the CDC would give the green light to drug- and alcohol-fuelled violence in the vulnerable communities that once had the card, “and now we are seeing the aftermath of this Government’s neglect”.

Opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Price said the cashless card was a way to limit alcohol, substance abuse and gambling in affected communities. Picture: Gary Ramage

Opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Price said the report was a pertinent reminder of the need to address the real causes of harm and disadvantage in Indigenous communities head-on.

“Unsurprisingly, the report notes that a majority of stakeholders were disappointed with the cessation of the CDC, “ she said.

“The reality is, it is these simple but practical measures that target the real causes of harm which result in positive outcomes for our most marginalised.

“We know that alcohol, substance abuse and gambling have absolutely decimated our most vulnerable people, and yet this government felt at home removing a key measure that would combat them.”

A spokeswoman for Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said it was important to note there was a mix of views on the cessation of the card, and that as the evidence for the review was collected more than 12 months ago, people’s views on the card and their communities may have changed.

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Originally published as Report finds axing cashless debit card led to crime and misery in Indigenous communities