In December 2021, the Department of Social Services told then Minister Anne Ruston there was not enough data to assess the efficacy of the controversial cashless debit card program.

The trial program that began in 2016 gave welfare recipients in four areas 80 per cent of their income through debit cards.

Participants could not buy alcohol or gamble with the cards.

The program operated in Ceduna in South Australia; East Kimberley and the Goldfields regions in Western Australia; and the Cape York, Doomadgee, Bundaberg and Hervey Bay regions in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The Labor government has essentially scrapped the card by making it voluntary for most participants.

A 2018-19 Auditor General report on the program said the social service department's "approach to monitoring and evaluation was inadequate."

Another Auditor-General report in 2021-22, said the social services department had not shown the cashless debit card program had met its intended objectives.

In a November 2021 briefing obtained by The Canberra Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, the social services department said there was insufficient data to assess the program.

"The analysis has not yet generated clear findings on program impact," the department said.

"This data should be interpreted with caution as further analysis will be required to explore any causal relationships in data trends.

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"Some findings may seem to suggest limited impact of the [program] in some areas. Further analysis is needed to determine whether any early trends represent any actual impacts."

As of December 2021, no states or territories had formally agreed to provide data.

This is despite the Coalition allocating $2 million in the 2021-22 budget to analyse the efficacy of the trial program.

Ms Ruston wrote a handwritten note on November 18 after a general briefing.

"Disappointed with the limited data proposed ... Hoping that the December brief will be more detailed," she wrote.

"I would also like [December] data to contain comparisons with a non-participant control group of people on income support with similar characteristics.

"In addition, comparison with total income support [population] would be helpful."

Less than a month after writing that note, Ms Ruston announced the debit card would be available through the Traditional Credit Union for Northern Territory participants.

Labor Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said no data or report has proved the card reduced harm.

"Service providers on the front line of helping those who interact with the card have been scathing about its existence," she said.

"Users [have] described to me the shame and anguish the card brings-it makes them feel like they are being punished for being on welfare."

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Liberal Senator Claire Chandler said the program made a "positive difference".

"People in communities [have] actually seen the positive difference that the card has made to their lives," she said.

"[Communities] rely on this card to tackle social harm, particularly harm associated with drug and alcohol addiction."