OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott wants to see indigenous welfare reforms now being tested in Cape York expanded to communities across the country.
The Cape York Welfare Reform Trials, currently under way in Coen, Aurukun, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale, aim to restore local indigenous authority and improve living conditions and the local economy.
In the trials, welfare payments can be withheld from parents who don't make decisions in the best interests of their children.
The Queensland government announced on Wednesday it wouldn't fund the trials after 2013.
The Regional Organisation of Councils of Cape York and Torres Shire (ROCCY) supports that decision, saying the reforms have failed.
Premier Campbell Newman insists he isn't abandoning the program, but he wants to see a wider, more cost-effective rollout.
"We are just not going to keep writing out cheques for a program that is expensive for the number of people it's looking after," he told 4BC radio on Thursday.Mr Abbott said he was a big supporter of the reforms.
"I want to see welfare reform spread beyond the four Cape communities where it is currently focused," he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.
"Throughout Queensland and hopefully throughout Australia.
"I'm happy to work constructively with all levels of government to make sure this happens."
An independent report on the reforms, released on Thursday, said positive changes in education and social behaviour were seen in the trial communities, but gains in housing and economic development were limited.
School attendance jumped - from four per cent below the rate in similar communities in 2008 to six per cent higher in 2011.
But keeping students in high school remained a significant challenge, the report said.
Residents say they're working towards becoming better parents and managing their money better to meet the needs of their families.
"Compared to three years ago, children are happier, more active and eating healthier food," the report said.
"Life is on the way up generally."
Progress was being made to remove legal and financial barriers to indigenous home ownership.
The reforms also led to the creation of 220 jobs but had a limited impact on the number of residents dependent on welfare.
The report concluded there could be no quick fix to challenges that were decades in the making.
"However, the trial of welfare reform points to a level of progress that has rarely been evident in previous reform programs."
The trial was supposed to end last year but was extended to December 2013 after the federal government kicked in $11.8 million.
In total, about $100m has been spent on the reforms by federal and state governments.
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