A Guardian investigation has revealed that a debit scheme – originally designed to help people on welfare to pay bills and expenses – is exposing people to financial harm. Now advocates say urgent action is needed to protect the most vulnerable. In this episode, Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam and chief investigations correspondent Christopher Knaus tell Matilda Boseley how the scheme crashed wildly off course and why repeated calls for reform have gone unanswered You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

How Centrepay plunged vulnerable Australians into debt

You’ve seen the headlines, now hear the Full Story. Every weekday, join Guardian journalists for a deeper understanding of the news in Australia and beyond. You can support The Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

News

Guardian Australia’s political editor, Karen Middleton, speaks with the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, about whether his third budget can really provide cost-of-living relief without fuelling inflation Exclusive: Labor to run $45m taxpayer-funded Future Made In Australia advertising campaign

Jim Chalmers on his budget balancing act

Almost all children have them by the time they are 11 years old – and some get them at four. But are they ruining childhoods? Blake Montgomery reports

Put it down! Should children be allowed smartphones?

Editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and political editor Karen Middleton speak to Nour Haydar about the budget Labor hopes will bring down inflation, ease cost-of-living pressures and win the next election

Lenore Taylor and Karen Middleton unpack budget 2024

In February, the Queensland police service sacked its First Nations advisory body after their refusal to sign a contract with a gag clause. Queensland state correspondent Ben Smee tells Nour Haydar how members of the group had repeatedly raised concerns that the police leadership had stalled on cultural reforms following a damning inquiry in 2022 into police responses to family and domestic violence You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

Can the Queensland Police Service change?

Earlier this month, Cumberland city council in western Sydney passed a motion banning books about same-sex parenting from its libraries. Nour Haydar speaks to NSW reporter Catie McLeod about the controversial decision and backlash to the ban You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

How Centrepay plunged vulnerable Australians into debt

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