Dole drug testing trials: at a glance

What's the trial all about?

* 5000 unemployed people on welfare will be tested for drugs including ice, ecstasy, marijuana and opioids.

* It will run two years from January in three locations including Canterbury-Bankstown in Sydney's southwest.

* Those testing positive will have 80 per cent of payments quarantined on a cashless welfare card for two years.

* Those who fail more than once will be referred to medical professionals for treatment.

* Depending on the type of test, it will either take place at a Centrelink centre or a nearby facility.

* Tests will be done in private by a "suitably qualified representative" from a contracted drug testing provider.

* Results won't be shared with police.

* It is unclear whether a record of drug use will remain on a person's Centrelink file forever.

Why Canterbury-Bankstown?

* There are roughly 12,000 people on Newstart and Youth Allowance in an area of about 346,000 people.

* About 5600 people in the area sign up for welfare each year.

* Ice-fuelled hospitalisations in the area have increased more than 2000 per cent in the past seven years.

* The number of Canterbury-Bankstown job seekers granted exemptions due to drug dependency rose 162.5 per cent in the 18 months to December 2016.

* Drug offences in Bankstown increased 5.1 per cent in the past two years - double the NSW rate - while amphetamine-related offences in the area have increased at three times the statewide rate.

Where to from here?

* Legislation to allow the trials is before parliament.

* Labor and the Greens oppose the trials, so the government will need the support of the Senate crossbench.

* Nick Xenophon has indicated his team of three are open to supporting the trial.

* Medical groups and welfare advocates are urging MPs to block the trial, warning it's discriminatory and won't achieve the intended outcomes.