Kaelah Hill says the new Labor government's promise to scrap the cashless debit card could bring an end to four years of shame and stress.
Since 2018, the Kalgoorlie mum and her disabled son have had 80 per cent of their income quarantined to be spent at approved vendors, which they cannot convert to cash.
All welfare recipients who live, or have lived, in WA's Goldfields and East Kimberley regions, as well as Ceduna in South Australia, and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Queensland, are placed on the card.
Heading into the election, Labor Party representatives reiterated that they would scrap the system if they won.
Incoming Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney said that was still the plan, but communities wanting to keep the card would be able to do so.
Looking forward to more autonomy
Kaelah Hill said the involuntary system made her feel "punished" for receiving a government payment, and living in Kalgoorlie.
Ms Hill said neither her nor her son had ever had issues with alcohol, gambling or financial management.
"It makes me feel less than [a second class citizen], because even a second class citizen would have choices," Ms Hill said.
She said she was looking forward to regaining her financial freedom, and being able to empower her son.
"If you've ever been in an abusive relationship, you don't realise you're being controlled and abused until you're not in there anymore."
Some leaders say it's working
But some in the Goldfields were anxious about the prospect of the scheme being axed.
In the small town of Laverton, 350 kilometres north east of Kalgoorlie, Shire President Pat Hill said the scheme had done wonders in reducing anti-social behaviour.
He invited any politician looking to scrap the system to spend time living in the community to see what life was like without it.
He said if the new government wanted to scrap the scheme, it should be ready to support an increase in anti-social behaviour.
"We want to see double the police in Laverton, we want to see permanent ambulance crews here, and we want to see the new hospital as quickly as possible and more staff to deal with it," Cr Hill said.
Poorly designed and administered
Another 550 kilometres down the road, on the edge of the Gibson Desert, residents in the vast Ngaanyatjarra Lands often find themselves caught in the system, despite being outside the trial zone.
Ngaanyatjarraku Shire President Damian McLean said locals were placed on the card when visiting Centrelink offices elsewhere, and struggled with the process to come off the system.
"They've been in Kalgoorlie for some reason or another and had contact with Centrelink, and they've been moved onto the card," Mr McLean said.
He said his community did not support the card, and was looking forward to seeing it scrapped.
"People who were managing their money appropriately before the cashless welfare card continued to do so, but the people who didn't were always trying to manipulate or get around [it]."
