Government must abandon attempt to turn NT into Cashless Debit Card trial site in the face of COVID-19

Any attempt by the Morrison Government to turn the Northern Territory into a Cashless Debit Card trial site during the COVID-19 pandemic would be irresponsible and potentially deadly.

The Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management to Cashless Debit Card Transition) Bill 2019 should be abandoned. The proposed law, which would see the Cashless Debit Card imposed on over 22,000 people across the NT, is currently before the Senate.

Compulsory income management has been widely opposed by Aboriginal communities and organisations across the NT, who would be disproportionately impacted by the Government’s Bill.

For the Government to try to push the Bill through now and attempt to roll-out the Cashless Debit Card would put Aboriginal peoples’ lives at risk, particularly in remote communities.

COVID-19 presents acute risks to the lives and health of Aboriginal peoples in remote NT communities because of the high rate of life-threatening health conditions, such as diabetes; the extreme lack of housing, which forces overcrowding; and the significant barriers to accessing appropriate healthcare.

The risk of spreading the virus across the NT is increased by an attempt to roll-out a large scale social policy. Further, the inevitable implementation issues that will arise will lead to people not being able to access money and needing to travel to access essentials at a time when ensuring food security and minimising movement are vital.

Now more than ever, the Government needs to listen to, and work with, Aboriginal people in order to prevent COVID-19 entering and devastating remote Aboriginal communities and families. This must be the priority.

The stakes could not be higher. The risk factors for COVID 19 are greater than the H1N1 virus in 2009, which resulted in death rates among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population six times higher than the non-Indigenous community and the need for ICU admissions 8.5 times higher.

Media contact:

Michelle Bennett, Communications Director, Human Rights Law Centre, 0419 100 519

Feature image credit: Wikipedia