The opposition's spokeswoman for social services Linda Burney said the proposed law, which would place welfare recipients on a cashless debit card if they failed two random drug tests, was part of "a demonisation of welfare recipients" by the Coalition. Linda Burney, in a press conference on Friday, said drug addiction was "a health issue" that should not be dealt with through the welfare system. Credit:AAP "Randomised drug testing could see a 55-year-old being expected to urinate into a cup somewhere to prove that they are not a drug addict," Ms Burney said. Senator Lambie said she had not been approached by the government over the bill and had not seen the updated legislation. The government is pushing to trial the program at three sites across Australia, and is lobbying crossbench senators to support a bill it wants to introduce in Parliament next week.

Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the government was "morally bankrupt" and was taking " an ideological approach" despite expert advice against the move. Loading "I'm frankly gobsmacked that the Government could even think of introducing this legislation which flies in the face of the medical evidence," she said. Without Labor and Greens support for the measures, the government will need four of the six crossbench senators to pass the bill. South Australian independent senator Cory Bernardi, who along with One Nation's two senators has previously supported the measures, said on Friday his position had not changed.

Senator Bernardi said drug testing federal politicians was "probably a pretty good idea". "I reckon you'd see one particular section of the Senate suspended quite regularly," he said. On Friday, Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie said there was no evidence the policy would work and assist people with their addictions. "It's a populist idea," she said. "We have so few days in the Parliament [and] we have so much good to do. I don't think this needs to be in the mix." Rebekha Sharkie said the bill was "a populist idea". Credit:AAP Ms Sharkie said she had talked to Senator Lambie on Friday and was open to discussing the issue with the government.

Chair of the AMA's ethics committee Chris Moy said the policy conflicted with the government's own National Drug and Alcohol Strategy for 2016 to 2025, which "basically says we're not in the game of stigmatising and criminalising drug and alcohol addiction". "What we have here is exactly that," Dr Moy said. "These people need help. They have a condition. We need to treat that." Loading

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the plan shouldn't be viewed as a "punitive measure". Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "We're very hopeful in discussions with the crossbench," Senator Ruston told Sunrise on Friday morning. Ms Burney said drug addiction was "a health issue" that should not be dealt with through the welfare system, echoing the advice of the Australian Medical Association and addiction specialists. She said the method had "been tried in the United States, it has been tried in New Zealand and it has been proved a failure". She said the policy was doomed to fail, saying there was "absolute disagreement the last time they introduced it".

"They have made a few minor changes to it and are dusting off an old policy in the desperate search for an agenda," Ms Burney said. Senator Ruston said the government was not threatening to cut off drug users' benefits, as anyone caught by the scheme would receive the same amount of welfare - but part of it would be quarantined "so that these people can address their addiction". "What we're saying is that instead of giving them access to all of their money in cash - cash which only in many instances is going straight to drug dealers - we're saying, let's quarantine some of it." The Australian Council of Social Service condemned the move as "demeaning and flawed".

An increase in stigma and anxiety for people with substance use disorders will exacerbate addiction issues rather than address them. Nadine Ezard ACOSS Director of Policy Jacqueline Phillips accused the government of "trying to deflect from the overwhelming, broad support for an increase to the appallingly low rates of Newstart and Youth Allowance after 25 years without a real increase". Associate Professor Nadine Ezard, the clinical director of St Vincent's Sydney's alcohol and drug unit, said threatening people with a substance abuse disorder that "if they test positive they'll be placed on income management" would not change their behaviour. "By clinical definition, people with severe substance use disorders are unable to modify their behaviour, even in the face of known negative consequences," she said. "In fact, an increase in stigma and anxiety for people with substance use disorders will exacerbate addiction issues rather than address them."