People on the poverty line in the Northern Territory are battling logistical nightmares and daily shame due to a long-running income management policy.

It's unclear if their lives will change after the federal election.

For Martin Ah-Fat, his little green Basics Card is still shiny and new.

The Darwin resident was only put on this form of income management by Centrelink in April and he does not yet know if it will complicate his life.

What he does already know is it will give him less choice over what he can spend his welfare money on.

And he knows how that makes him feel as an Indigenous man.

"It's like you're being told what to do," Mr Ah-Fat said.

"It's like we're back in the sugar and flour and tea leaf days.

"Other people shouldn't be making choices for anybody. You should be able to make your own choices."

Helen Fejo-Frith sits with her son Martin Ah-Fat who is on the Basics Card. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

Mr Ah-Fat is one of almost 22,000 people in the Northern Territory on the Federal Government's Basics Card scheme.

In the Territory, that works out to a staggering one in 13 people on income management.

Three-quarters are Indigenous. If you're on it, half of your welfare goes straight onto the Basics Card.

The money on that card is then only able to be used at pre-approved retailers to buy everything except alcohol, cigarettes, pornography and gambling.

That might sound simple yet many find it is not.

Logistical nightmares on the Basics Card

Bynoe resident Andrew Walton is also on the Basics Card.

The rural Darwin resident grapples with his mental health and has not had a stable job in a decade.

He had been on the unemployment benefit Newstart for a few years when Centrelink switched him to the Basics Card in 2011.

Like the overwhelming majority, he had no choice in this matter — it was go on the card or lose your welfare benefits.

"$290 a fortnight goes into my bank and $290 a fortnight goes into the Basics Card," Mr Walton said.

"At first, I didn't think it'd make much difference to me.

"[But it does make a difference] — you find that out afterwards when you try and use the Basics Card in different places."

For example, Mr Walton cannot use it to purchase second-hand items online.

A trip to the shops to fill the car with petrol can be a nightmare for rural Top End resident Andrew Walton. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

It restricts the amount of money he can spend at cash-only produce markets. And it often limits him to shopping at big conglomerates.

Then there's the little things many take for granted — it took Mr Walton months to find a vet for his dog Ruby that would accept the Basics Card.

He also cannot use the debit card to buy petrol at the motel around the corner from his home.

Mr Walton tries to work around all these things — but balancing the logistics of the Basics Card with the welfare money he can still spend freely is not easy.

"I think [everybody] should try living on it a while and see how well they can manage," he said.

"The nearest place I can use the Basics Card for buying petrol is Berry Springs. So I have to drive 75km to get petrol and 75km to get back again."

Why are there logistical issues?

The frustrating reality is the Bynoe Motel near Mr Walton's home wants to accept his Basics Card, but it was knocked back by Centrelink when it applied to be part of the scheme.

"They knocked us back because we sell alcohol," co-owner Judy Abdoo said.

In a statement, the Department of Social Services — which manages Centrelink and the Basics Card — said it took a lot of things into account when approving retailers for the scheme and it did consider exceptional circumstances.

"Centrelink said last year we might have a review but we haven't had one," Ms Abdoo said.

Bynoe Motel co-owner Judy Abdoo said the government would not allow her business to accept the Basics Card. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

"This means that a lot of locals here on the Basics Card, we don't get their business. They go to Berry Springs instead.

"Once again, small business gets the run-around and the big business gets the money."

Other Bynoe locals on the Basics Card agree.

Jim O'Keeffe also makes the trek to Pine Creek to buy petrol on his Basics Card, as well as his groceries. The checkout line is an unpleasant experience.

"At the supermarket when I pull out my Basics Card, I look around and I hope nobody sees it," Mr O'Keeffe said.

"It makes me feel like a criminal. It is very demeaning."

How did the Territory get here?

The Basics Card was originally only given to Indigenous people in remote communities and town camps under the Howard government's 2007 NT Intervention, which was a bid to curb alcohol-related harm and family violence.

In 2010 the Labor government stopped singling out remote Indigenous people, instead putting all long-term Newstart recipients in every location in the Territory on the Basics Card, raising its reach from 16,000 to 22,000 people.

Sonya, who requested her last name not be used in order to protect her identity, is from a tiny and remote Indigenous community.

She used to be on the Basics Card and said it could be useful as a way to say no to giving money to family, because it was segmented away and could not be withdrawn as cash.

"At least you don't buy alcohol with that card. You just buy feed," she said.

ANU research fellow Rob Bray led a 2015 study that looked at whether things like food consumption, remote school attendance, and alcohol-related hospital admissions had gotten better in communities since the Basics Card was introduced.

The Basics Card is accepted at this Salvation Army shop. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

"We could find no substantive evidence of there being change in the Northern Territory as a result of the introduction of the Basics Card," Mr Bray said.

He said it's likely that is because the vast majority of people on welfare were never spending 50 per cent of it on alcohol or drugs to begin with.

"Income management is seen as being a simple solution [but] that simplicity does not translate," he said.

"The majority of people don't spend their money inappropriately, so you don't get those changes.

"For a lot of individuals, we found it increased the amount of burden they experienced in trying to manage their lives. For others, it just simply made them more dependent on the welfare system."

The Basics Card costs the federal government about $70m a year to run.

The Coalition says income management — including the Cashless Card scheme in Ceduna, Bundaberg and the Kimberley, and the iteration of the Basics Card affecting about 1,000 Indigenous people in Cape York — does improve lives.

Policy may get shake-up after election

The Coalition is pledging to transfer everybody on the Basics Card scheme in the Territory over to Cashless Cards if it wins power at the May 18 federal election.

It said this would allow Territorians on income management to use their cards at more eftpos terminals and for online banking.

The Minister for Social Services Paul Fletcher declined an interview to explain if this would fix all logistical issues, such as the Bynoe motel's petrol situation.

And Mr Bray is not convinced of the policy's worth.

"The cashless card will smooth out a small number of the difficulties that people are facing, but in essence it will not change the overall effect of the policy," Mr Bray said.

"And what's really needed is to move to a different policy that targets income management to those who need it.

"Target those who actually are having problems managing their money."

Almost 22,000 Territorians are on the Basics Card. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

Indigenous lobby group Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT (AMSANT) and Mr Walton are also calling for income management to be voluntary or targeted.

It is unclear if Labor will do this if it claims power.

The Opposition's shadow social services minister Linda Burney also declined an interview, however at a Darwin press conference last week, she said Labor will "look" at making the Basics Card voluntary.

Yet she said some communities still want the scheme and Labor would need to consult before changing it.

"I'm not going to stand here today and say this is exactly what will happen," Ms Burney said.

"We need to pursue that in co-design and co-talking with people who are affected."

Andrew Walton has to drive 75 kilometres each way to get fuel. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

Back in Bynoe, Mr Walton hopes at least something will change after the election. He doesn't hold strong hopes though.

"The trouble is that one size fits all, fits no-one," Mr Walton said.