Cashless welfare card trial could expand

A trial of cashless welfare cards might be expanded to more communities in this year's federal budget.

Human Services Minister Alan Tudge has flagged consultations are underway.

"We just want to further consult with different regions... in terms of their appetite for having it introduced," Mr Tudge told the ABC Radio.

The cards quarantine 80 per cent of welfare payments, which can't be used to buy booze or gamble, but can pay for housing, food, clothing, household supplies and essentials.

The remaining 20 per cent of a welfare payment is placed in a person's regular bank account and can be withdrawn as cash.

Trials have been underway at Kununurra in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia.

Liberal backbencher Rowan Ramsey's electorate covers Ceduna and he supports a further roll out.

"I find it difficult to envisage a community that it wouldn't work in," he told ABC Radio.

"It doesn't matter where you go, whether you go to Port Augusta or Adelaide or into the middle of Sydney."

Indigenous groups and the Greens are not convinced of the cards' merits.