The fate of Australia's controversial welfare experiment — the cashless debit card — could rest with Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie and her whirlwind outback tour.

Key points: The cashless debit card is designed to curb drug and alcohol abuse by limiting access to cash through quarantined welfare payments

The cashless debit card is designed to curb drug and alcohol abuse by limiting access to cash through quarantined welfare payments The card is currently being trialled in WA's East Kimberley and Goldfields, Ceduna in SA, and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Qld

The card is currently being trialled in WA's East Kimberley and Goldfields, Ceduna in SA, and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Qld Senators are expected to vote next month to include the NT and Cape York in the trial, and whether to extend current trials

Senator Lambie today finished her visits to cashless debit card trial sites in Western Australia, on what she has called a "fact-finding mission" into the card's success.

With Labor turning against the welfare scheme, Senator Lambie's opinion will be crucial as the Senate is expected to vote on the trial's extension next month.

A legislation amendment would extend the current trial sites until July 2021 and expand to include welfare recipients in the Northern Territory and Cape York.

The cashless welfare card operates in WA's East Kimberley and Goldfields, Ceduna in SA, and recently began in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Queensland.

Senator Lambie said she had seen "good results" at the trial sites but told the ABC she would not reveal how she would vote.

"I want to vote for it, I want to see this continue, but they [the coalition] have to deliver what they promised," she said.

The "promise" refers to the Government's guarantee that support services will be provided in the trial locations including drug and alcohol rehabilitation, mental health services, and financial counselling services.

With her trademark bluntness, Senator Lambie said she was drafting a list of conditions her vote will depend on, including the delivery of these services.

Could banks soon control welfare?

Opponents of the card, who met with Senator Lambie in Kalgoorlie this week, told her the card was failing them.

"We wanted her to know we're normal, real people just trying to pay bills and this system isn't working," cardholder Sylvia Asusaar said.

She said the group was "flabbergasted" when Senator Lambie told them the cashless card would "soon" be managed by the big four banks.

Single mother Sylvia Asusaar relies on Centrelink payments to care for her son, who has an intellectual disability. ( ABC Goldfields: Tom Joyner )

The Department of Social Services (DSS) confirmed Minister Anne Ruston met with banks to discuss the cashless debit card but refused to say if banks would replace Indue — the current operator of the card.

Senator Lambie also visited the Goldfields town of Laverton, where she held a meeting with about 30 people.

Shire president Patrick Hill told the senator he wanted the card to stay because the town had previously struggled with alcohol, drug, and gambling issues.

"Since the card came in, the crime rate has dropped, kids are going to school, and it's had a positive impact on the whole community," he said.

However Laverton police have previously warned against directly attributing any reduction in crime to the card.

Senator Jacqui Lambie said she had seen "good results" at the trial sites, including at Laverton in the WA Goldfields. ( Supplied )

Where's the research?

Nearly two years since the Goldfields trial started, evidence of the card's success or lack thereof remains anecdotal because an independent review is yet to be seen.

After a botched attempt to assess the first trial sites, the University of Adelaide was hired to evaluate the East Kimberley, Ceduna, and Goldfields trials.

DSS said in March that findings were "expected to be finalised in late 2019".

But when asked today if the research would be available before parliament resumes, a department spokesperson said findings would be released "in the coming months".

In a speech to parliament last year Kalgoorlie MP Rick Wilson said the trial should be extended because "the anecdotal evidence is overwhelmingly positive".

Trials of the Federal Government's cashless welfare card have proven controversial with one charity warning they lead to "social stigmatisation". ( ABC Goldfields: Isabel Moussalli )

While Senator Lambie said she did not need to see the research to determine her position, Labor has withdrawn its support for a trial extension due to the lack of evidence.

Labor also wants the scheme to be made voluntary, leaving the coalition reliant on support from either crossbencher Senator Lambie or the Centre Alliance Party.

A representative from Rebekha Sharkie's Centre Alliance Party also visited the NT recently to discuss the cashless debit card but the party said it had "not reached a position on the card".

The never-ending trial

Since July last year, cardholders could apply to exit the scheme if they could demonstrate responsible financial management.

Despite receiving hundreds of applications, DSS had not allowed anyone to leave the scheme under this criteria according to government data released earlier this month.

The Greens and Labor have slammed the unsuccessful opt-outs.