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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Luke Henriques-Gomes Social affairs and inequality editor

Cashless welfare: Labor vows to end compulsory use of basics card

Hand of woman paying with contactless credit card with NFC technology
Labor has promised to make the basics card voluntary for welfare recipients, saying the scheme would be replaced by wraparound services such as financial counselling. Photograph: ratmaner/Alamy

Labor has given a clear signal it will end the basics card as a compulsory scheme, allowing more than 20,000 welfare recipients in the Northern Territory to exit the program.

Anthony Albanese last year committed to scrapping the cashless debit card, which operates in trial sites in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia and until recently was run solely by the private banking provider Indue.

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