Paper short abstract:

I draw on a thirteen-month study of an income management program in Australia. I find that through restricting consumption, the card aims to instil 'responsible behaviour' such as getting a job in the capitalist economy, accumulating private property and succeeding in English education.

Paper long abstract:

By targeting First Nations subjectivities with behavioural conditions, state benefits are a contemporary technology of settler colonisation and assimilation in Australia. In this paper, I draw on a thirteen-month study examining an income management program; the Cashless Debit Card trial in the East Kimberley region, to examine contemporary assimilation in welfare policy. Through restricting cash and purchases to curb alcohol consumption, illegal drug use and gambling, the card aims to instil 'responsible behaviour' such as getting a job in the capitalist economy, accumulating private property and succeeding in English education. Whilst assimilation attempts are made, there is resistance and pushback in the trial site. Attempts of assimilation, not actual assimilation can only be observed. Still, whilst there have been ongoing efforts by governments to use welfare towards assimilation, contemporary welfare policy exposes the intersection between the process of settler colonialism and the empowerment of Australian capitalism. The trial also exposes how assimilation is legitimised by the State in contemporary Australia. Legitimisation includes the promulgation of narratives of First Nations dysfunction, alcoholism, drug use and gambling, constructing evidence of program success through a flawed evaluation process, depoliticising settler colonialism and relational poverty, and propelling narratives of community and consultation to infer a locally led program.