A proposed law that would allow the Morrison Government to force a new form of income control onto thousands of people in the Northern Territory should be rejected, the Human Rights Law Centre has told a Senate Committee.

The Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management to Cashless Debit Card Transition) Bill 2019 would turn the entire Northern Territory into a Cashless Debit Card trial site and compel at least 22,000 people onto the trial. Around 83 per cent of those likely to be affected by the proposed law are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Adrianne Walters, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said that compulsory income quarantining intrudes upon the freedom and autonomy of individuals and families.

“This is the Federal Government again trying to micro-manage the lives of Aboriginal people by denying people the freedom to make decisions about where to buy food and clothes, and the option of buying cheaper goods with cash. At its core this is a discriminatory and coercive policy and it must be rejected,” said Walters.

Most people affected by the proposed law are currently on Income Management and use a Basicscard. Under both forms of income control, people have at least 50% of a small social security payment compulsorily quarantined and restrictions imposed on how that money is used, regardless of how well they were managing their lives or the hardships caused.

“Income management in the Northern Territory is a large-scale Government-imposed policy experiment that has utterly failed. As Parliamentarians have already heard, Aboriginal people have borne the brunt of this for 12 years. A good government would acknowledge this and work with Aboriginal people to transition away from this discriminatory policy of compulsory income control,” said Walters.

“In remote areas, it effectively punishes people who have no choice but to turn to the social safety net because of the lack of paid jobs in their communities. The Morrison Government should be focusing on creating opportunities for decent work in remote communities, not imposing more control,” said Walters.

The Bill proposes to give the Minister the power to increase the amount of money quarantined from 50% to 100% without adequate safeguards or Parliamentary oversight.

“This proposed law gives one Minister a dangerous and unacceptable amount of power over the lives of thousands of Territorians. This is a power to further restrict a basic freedom most of us take for granted – the freedom to control how we manage our lives,” said Walters.

Walters expressed concern about the role of electronic card technologies and the involvement of private companies in the Government’s attempt to expand the Cashless Debit Card.

“We are deeply troubled by the use of increasingly pervasive card technology to monitor the personal lives of those needing support. Technological advances have the power to do good, but for that to happen, accountability and ending inequality must be central to their design,” added Walters.

Read the Human Rights Law Centre’s submission on the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management to Cashless Debit Card Transition) Bill 2019.

Media contact:

Michelle Bennett, Communications Director: 0419 100 519