Bass MHR Bridget Archer wants focus on payday lenders, not cashless welfare card

In her speech outlining her concerns about plans to make cashless welfare card trial sites permanent and expand it into the Northern Territory and Cape York, Ms Archer spoke of areas that she believed she take greater priority.

Among those was cracking down on payday lenders, which offer cash loans at high rates of interest.

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Ms Archer said these businesses were often exacerbating disadvantage.

"I find it extremely disappointing and frustrating that we would look to support income management systems while not addressing the reprehensible practices of payday lenders," she said.

"Seeking to manage people's income on the one hand while on the other hand you are allowing highly predatory payday lenders direct access to the most vulnerable in our community.

"This is a complete contradiction and a damaging at that. We must move to investing in long term solutions that create sustainable and meaningful change."

In 2017, the government developed an exposure draft bill which would have provided greater protections to vulnerable consumers. It was not progressed after lobbying by the industry.

Since then, a Senate inquiry highlighted a range of examples in which vulnerable Australians had taken on multiple rent-to-own and payday deals which were costing them far more in the long run.

That inquiry also did not result in any changes.

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Clark independent MHR Andrew Wilkie this week introduced his own bill to Parliament - a replica of the 2017 bill.

It would place a cap on rent-to-own schemes, require payday loans to have equal repayment amounts and intervals, remove monthly fee charges and prevent marking of rent-to-buy schemes at people's homes.

Mr Wilkie said it was beyond time to introduce greater regulation into the sector.

"It beggars belief that, after so much talk and so much effort by so many people, we still have not provided the protection for consumers that they desperately need and will need even more as we go into the post-pandemic world and as government income support payments are reduced," he said.

"Experts, including ASIC in front of Senate estimates just recently, have made the point that there will be likely an increased reliance by consumers on payday loans and rent-to-buy schemes."

During his speech to Parliament this week, Mr Wilkie provided two examples of the impact of payday loans.

In the first, a single mother-of-three used payday loans from eight different lenders to gamble online, including providing bank statements to the companies which showed how she was using the money.

"In fact, most of the money on those statements was clearly going to other payday lenders for gambling and also to a debt collection agency," Mr Wilkie said.

Her bank refused to cancel the direct debits, and by the time she engaged with a counsellor, she was homeless.

The second example involved a homeless 17-year-old who suffered from psychosis.

She was approved for a $250 loan to cover daily expenses, but was hospitalised due to her mental health condition. Over the next year, the debt grew to $770 from fees and interest.

The debt was eventually waived after it was found to be "irresponsible lending".