The focus of this submission is on the legislative provisions of the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Cashless Debit Card) Bill 2017 which would enable the removal of section 124PF of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999.

This section currently limits the number of Cashless Debit Card trial locations to three, the inclusion of no more than 10,000 trial participants, and states that the existing trial will end on 30 June 2018.

The passing of the Bill would therefore allow the Federal Government to extend the time frame for the implementation of the arrangements in the existing trial locations; enable flexibility for the expansion of the cashless debit card to new locations, which once identified, will be determined by dis allowable legislative instruments; and allow for a more generalised roll-out of the Card to more than 10,000 participants.