Thousands of people in the Northern Territory, mostly Indigenous, will remain on income management despite the federal government introducing legislation to abolish the cashless debit card on Wednesday.

Cashless debit card trial participants may be able to opt out of the program within two months, however the Basics Card introduced during the NT Intervention almost one decade earlier will remain.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has vowed to establish transition measures to support the more than 17,000 people now on the card, which was introduced in 2016.

"The Cashless Cebit Card stigmatises and it often makes participants' lives more difficult because they cannot access the cash economy," she said.

"We have listened to First Nations community leaders, service providers and cashless debit card participants in these communities - and we have heard them loud and clear."

However, a Department of Social Services spokesperson told National Indigenous Times income management would remain compulsory for long-term payment recipients in the Northern Territory, and anyone referred by a child protection authority, an approved organisation, or a social worker.

"The government is continuing to consult with affected communities to explore the future of Income Management and other support needs in communities," she said.

As of April this year, more than 25,000 people were on the Basics Card, almost all of them in the Northern Territory.

Welfare recipients in the Territory forced on to the Basics Card fall into two key categories; People aged 15 to 24 years who have been receiving an eligible payment, including JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Special Benefit and Parenting Payment, for three of the previous six months, and people aged 25 years and above who have been receiving an eligible payment for more than one of the last two years.

Labor had vowed to abolish the cashless debit card, which quarantines between 30 and 80 per cent of welfare payments, and prevents it being withdrawn as cash or used to pay for alcohol or gambling.

A report published in June by the Auditor General found after five years of operation the Morrison Government had not demonstrated whether the card was working despite nationwide trials.

Ms Rishworth said the card's repeal would allow participants to opt out by contacting Services Australia as early as mid-September, pending the bill's passage through parliament.

They would then be transitioned off the system within six months.