The future of one of the most polarising welfare programs of the Coalition government remains unclear, with thousands of Australians on the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) waiting to see what Labor will decide.
Labor pledged to discontinue the program but said it would leave it up to the five trial sites to decide if it continues in their area.
Community leaders and welfare recipients are now waiting to see when and how it will implement that reset, with both supporters and opponents arguing it is a high-stakes issue for vulnerable Australians.
The card sets aside the bulk of a person's welfare payments for essentials like food and bills to minimise spending on drugs, alcohol and gambling.
The program has attracted criticism for being impractical and targeting areas with a high Indigenous population.
But others argue it has reduced substance abuse and incentivised employment.
'Lives at risk'
Gija man Ian Trust is one of those hoping the cashless card will be allowed to remain in place in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
"I think it has led to some improvements … and the bottom line is that you can't just take something away and leave nothing," he says.
"I think the danger is [removing the scheme] will result in more injuries and more alcoholism, and stuff like the police being hunted by mainly Aboriginal youth in stolen cars."
The uncertainty over the cashless card comes during concern about social breakdown in regions such as the Kimberley, which community leaders like Mr Trust say is worsening rather than improving.
Evaluations have delivered unclear and mixed results, allowing income management programs like the CDC and basics card to become something of an ideological football.
Mixed wording on policy position
The ALP's policy position has varied in its phrasing in recent years, and the new Albanese government has not commented since Saturday's result.
On its election website, the ALP said it would scrap the card altogether.
"Labor will abolish the discriminatory Cashless Debit Card and instead support First Nations communities to make their own decisions about the way forward."
A week before the election, Linda Burney — who is expected to take over the Social Services and Indigenous Affairs portfolios — was more nuanced.
"We have taken the view very strongly that if a community wants to have income management, and the community consultation has been thorough, then that's the decision of the community," she said.
"It's not the decision of the Labor party.
"If there is a decision by the community that they would like to have the cashless management system in place, then that's their decision."
Exactly how that will work in practice is yet to be seen.
Also complicating things is the requirement for legislative change.
Hopes programs will remain
A priority for community leaders like Miriuwung man Desmond Hill is that the wraparound programs linked to the cashless card rollout continue.
"I'd like to see the existing programs just get streamlined and put into the mainstream, not just stopped," he said.
"I personally supported the card being introduced because there were people using Centrelink like a career — they never had a job and had no intention of getting a job.
"And around the time the card was introduced, we had a spate of suicides and, as locals, we really felt the impact of that — so they were my reasons for supporting it."
Recipient hope for change
Others are hoping Labor will take a more decisive stance and shut down the existing scheme altogether.
Kalgoorlie woman Sylvia Assasar was placed on the card when the WA Goldfields trial started in 2017.
She says support for the program is misguided.
"There's no glowing stories. There's no success stories," she said.
"Everybody has read a story where someone couldn't pay their rent, or they couldn't access something they needed medical wise through the card."
Ms Assasar says she faced stigma for just having to use the card.
"Because everyone knows what it is, so everyone knows you're on a payment — there's no anonymity anymore."
End of era?
It could be the end of an era for income management in Australia.
Labor also pledged to make the basics card voluntary rather than compulsory, meaning more than 24,000 Northern Territory residents could opt out.
The program was introduced during the Howard government's so-called "intervention" in the Territory in 2007 and quarantines 50 per cent of the welfare payments of long-term recipients and those deemed "disengaged youth".
