00:02The basics card proving to be a complex issue.
00:06What the CLC is calling for is a well-managed transition plan away from compulsory income management to a system
00:14that's voluntary.
00:15It is one of the compulsory income management schemes quietly extended by the government in June as they repealed a
00:22clause that would have ended it in July this year,
00:24flying in the face of a 2022 Labor election promise to abolish mandatory income management.
00:31Labor will make the basics card voluntary for those individuals or communities who wish to keep a form of income
00:38management.
00:39While a previous form of income management, the cashless debit card, was scrapped in 2023,
00:44last week Labor and the Coalition voted against a Greens motion to stop the government from extending ongoing compulsory income
00:52management schemes,
00:52which block people using welfare payments on items like tobacco and alcohol.
00:57There has always been the basics card in place.
00:59We know that some forms of income management has to be there, usually through the courts,
01:05usually as part of conditions for people either in family and domestic violence situations or in regards to legal circles.
01:13A review is underway into Labor's removal of the clause that would end the scheme.
01:1730,000 Territorians are on compulsory income management, most of whom are Indigenous.
01:23While Labor maintains some income management is necessary, researchers say it can cause harm.
01:28It's significant because compulsory income management removes people's rights.
01:34And, you know, it has been under quite a lot of scrutiny, thinking through the human rights lens,
01:40in terms of removing people's rights to Social Security and a whole host of financial rights.
01:46A promise for change yet to be fulfilled.
01:48A promise for change yet to be fulfilled.
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