The town Geraldton, over 400 Kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia, has been suggested as being another site as a trial of the Healthy Welfare Card.
The card is a form of income management stemming from the Creating Parity report by mining magnate Andrew Forrest.
It works much like the Basics Card in the Northern Territory, however will withhold 80 per cent of a welfare recipients payment on the card which cannot be used for alcohol or gambling purchases.
The card made its debut in Ceduna last week despite mixed feeling in the town and may also be heading to the Goldfields region soon.
With over 70 per cent of residents on welfare being non-Indigenous, Geraldton is expected to be the first trial site where the majority of recipients are non-Indigenous.
The Government has courted criticism for the choice of the card’s trial sites which until now had largely been regions dominated by First Nations residents.
Image: ABC
