Cashless Welfare Card
Cashless Welfare Card also known as the Cashless Debit Card is an Australian debit card, trialled by the Commonwealth Government from July 2008 onwards, which quarantines part of a person's income from certain welfare support payments.
On 30 April 2008, Labor Minister for Community Service Jenny Macklin, announced that the newly elected Rudd government would introduce a new national welfare debit card if it proved successful in an experimental deployment in selected Aboriginal communities. The card would control payments to negligent parents in an effort to curb welfare money being spent on alcohol, drugs, pornography, and gambling, and ensuring that half of the cardholders' welfare payments are spent on approved goods and services, such as food, medicine, and clothing for their children. At a press conference on 9 May 2008, Macklin further confirmed the debit card as part of measures included in the forthcoming Federal budget to address Aboriginal issues.