In a speech given on 25 March 2009, the then Minister for Human Services, Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig made two major announcements.
The then Minister confirmed the continuation of the BasicCard, the EFTPOS-based card being used to deliver the income management aspect of the Australian Government’s policy response to social problems in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The then Minister declared the BasicsCard a “success overall” and announced that the Government would be going to tender on delivery of the program in the near future. He also noted that the current form of income management could change in the future as well.
The call for tenders on providing BasicsCard was announced by the Minister on 29 May 2009.
In his March speech, the then Minister also announced that the Government would be releasing a discussion paper later this year on the Government’s payment strategy. He indicated a preference for a pragmatic and modular approach to payments and emphasised the importance of an open and ongoing dialogue with industry going forward.
The then Minister’s 25 March 2009 speech can be found here.
The 29 May 2009 media release announcing the BasicsCard tender can be found here.
In early June 2009, the Hon Chris Bowen MP became Minister for Human Services. There has been no indication that the Government intends to change or reverse the above decisions.