With support from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), and developed in close consultation with local community leaders, local and state government agencies and other Australian Government agencies, a 12-month trial is being conducted of a Cashless Debit Card for income support payments (ISPs) in two regional communities. 

The Cashless Debit Card Trial (CDCT) aims to reduce the levels of harm associated with alcohol consumption, illicit drug use and gambling by limiting Trial participants’ access to cash and by preventing the purchase of alcohol or gambling products (other than lottery tickets). 

The Trial commenced in Ceduna and Surrounds (South Australia, SA) and in the East Kimberley (EK) region (Western Australia, WA) in early 2016. 

The overall objective of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the CDCT against agreed KPIs. The evaluation is based on data from three principal sources: 

• administrative data
• interviews and focus groups with community leaders and stakeholders (qualitative research)
• face-to-face interviews with Trial participants, family members of Trial participants and other non-participant community members residing in the Trial sites (quantitative survey).

Three evaluation reports are planned across the period of the Trial, with this being the second of these. It is based on data collected during the first six months of the Trial (up to 4 October 2016). 

The findings indicate that, overall, the CDCT has been effective to date in terms of its performance against the KPIs established in the evaluation framework. At this early stage of the CDCT, the KPIs underpinning this overall effectiveness assessment were those relating to CDCT program outputs and short term outcomes (ie: those expected to have occurred by 3 months of full implementation).