REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, A researcher studying the impact of the cashless welfare card has linked the Federal Government's welfare program to the suicides of young Indigenous people in the Kimberley.

Coroner Ros Fogliani is examining the suicides of 13 children and young adults in the Kimberley, and is this week hearing testimony in the town of Kununurra.

Among those to give evidence was Melbourne University researcher Elise Klein, who is midway through a study on the effects of the implementation of the cashless welfare initiative in Ceduna and the west Kimberley.

Questioned on her findings so far, Dr Klein said local people and the community as a whole felt weakened by being subjected to the mandatory spending restrictions.

"It's become a symbol of disempowerment. It has become a symbol of not having control over one's life and of state intervention over people's lives," she said.

"Maybe the relevance to this inquest is that the kind of atmosphere that this feeds into is extremely disempowering for people.

"And for young people seeing this and their families in the midst of this can be quite disempowering."

Dr Klein was scathing of the implementation of the cashless card program, saying there was no proper consultation in Kununurra or Wyndham, and inadequate explanation as to how it worked.

"People were given a manual, that was full of technical language that was difficult to understand, so people had a lot of difficulty using the card," she said.

"When the trial began there was a fair amount of chaos.

"People were directed to a mobile app to check their balance, but some people didn't know how to use the internet, never mind have a mobile phone."

The cashless debit card has been in place in the east Kimberley for about 18 months, with Indigenous people making up about three quarters of those having to use it.

Residents of both Kununurra and Wyndham remain divided over its effectiveness, as are many people in other WA towns being touted for inclusion in a further roll-out of trial sites expected before the end of the year.

Cashless card having 'adverse affect'

Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Aboriginal Health Council in WA, Michelle Nelson-Cox, has questioned recent calls for the use of the cashless welfare card to be expanded.

Last week Andrew Forrest and Indigenous leaders went to Canberra to call for the program's expansion to reduce the amount of cash in communities.

It followed the charging of more than 30 people with over 300 child sex offences in and around Roebourne.

Ms Nelson-Cox did not believe the card was likely to help prevent abuse in communities, but did call for mandatory sentencing for child sex offences.

"I'll be the first to take a bullet to protect any children being potentially at harm of this particular behaviour. If we don't stamp it out, this problem will continue to go on," she said.

"And I'd be one of the very strong advocates to say we need to bring back mandatory sentencing for those who impose such a vicious crime on any of our young children."

But she said the welfare cards were not the answer.

"We've got evidence to say that cashless card is having an adverse effect," she said.

"We've heard it first-hand from recipients of this cashless card who were quite capable of providing a safe and healthy lifestyle for their children without having been imposed with the cashless card.

"It's not necessarily proven that the cashless card is actually having effective outcomes because it's totally not."

Ms Nelson-Cox believed the best way to stop abuse was to work with Indigenous leaders in communities.

The Aboriginal Health Council of WA represents 22 community controlled health services, more than 300 stakeholder partnerships and other NGOs and programs.

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