Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth will on Wednesday introduce a bill to scrap the card used by about 17,300 people, delivering on a promise Labor took to the federal election.

The scheme places up to 80 per cent of a welfare recipient's payments on a card which cannot be used to withdraw cash, gamble or buy alcohol.

The former government spruiked the card as one solution to combatting drug and alcohol-fueled behaviour in outback communities.

But the program, which since 2016 has been trialed in seven communities across SA, WA, NT and Queensland, has proven highly controversial amid ongoing doubts about its benefits.

A recent auditor-general report found there wasn't proof that the card had helped to reduce social harms in the trial communities.

The card exploded as a political issue during the federal election campaign, as the Coalition furiously denied Labor's claims that it was planning to force pensioners onto the income management regime if it was re-elected.

Ms Rishworth said the decision to scrap the card was the result of consultation with Indigenous leaders, service providers and participants.

"We have heard them loud and clear," Ms Rishworth said.

"The cashless debit card stigmatises and it often makes participants' lives more difficult because they cannot access the cash economy."

Half of all card holders are Indigenous, according to government figures.

The government hopes card holders will begin to start opting out of the program as soon as mid-September, although that timeframe is subject to the passage of the bill through parliament.

Ms Rishworth said the government would keep talking with the trial communities to explore the future of income management after the card was abolished.

"There will still be support available to those who need it, including opting in for voluntary income management, setting up Centrepay arrangements and referrals to local supports," Ms Rishworth said.