Cashless welfare card breaches human rights to privacy - committee

Firstly, David and I get welfare. I the DSP and David the Carer Payment and Carer Allowance. It's not a career choice but it's enough to survive. Just lucky I've been in this rental place now for 8 years and the rent increases have been very modest over that time. It still takes over half of our income to pay the rent, but we manage. 

Many people in our situation wouldn't. In short although we have little money we're good with what we get. We manage it fine, keeping a roof over our heads, all the bills paid, and groceries in the place. So why should we in the future possibly be forced into a cashless gov controlled welfare card instead of our present situation?

For example, we do all our banking online. The rent gets paid out of my lesser pension amount which means David has to transfer $300 each fortnight into my account to cover the rent. How in the fuck would that possibly work with a welfare card FFS? Why would the gov think we're incapable of managing our own money? When we are, why would they step in to do so? 

One of the most precious things for the disabled is to have their own measure of control/independence in whatever area they can after losing control over much of their lives. To be able to manage your own money is one of them. What would be the mental health impacts of taking that control away? 

Now a parliamentary committee looking into such impacts of a welfare card on the lives of the disabled, questioning the human rights aspects of privacy.

Under the plan, people on the unemployment payment Newstart, the youth allowance, the disability support payment and carers’ allowance payments would receive 20% of their benefits as cash and the rest would be locked on a debit card that could not be used to buy alcohol or gamble. 

The parliamentary joint committee on human rights, made up of three Liberal party members, three Labor party members, two Nationals, one Greens member and one independent, has issued the social services minister with a request to explain how the bill is compatible with human rights, specifically the right to privacy. 

“Restricting how a person can access, and where they can spend, their social security benefits, interferes with the person’s right to personal autonomy and therefore their right to a private life,” the report says. 

People on the dole would get $51.90 a week in cash, those on youth allowance would get $23.35 and people on the DSP and carer payment would receive $86. The rest of their benefits would be placed on the debit card, trials of which are due to start in February. It would only be able to be used at approved businesses. 

The human rights committee listed its concerns with this approach, including the many instances when people could only use cash such as at markets, on public transport, to give to family members, buying second-hand goods and at stores that had minimum purchase requirements for debit cards. 

“This restriction undoubtedly impacts on how a person is able to conduct their private life and represents the extension of government regulation into the private and family lives of the persons affected by these trials,” the report says. 

The committee also said the government was yet to clearly demonstrate that income management had the beneficial effects hoped for. more