3 June, 2013
$22 Million for NDIS Ads
The Federal Government has been warned that the Opposition and the nation will be watching carefully as it embarks upon a twenty two million dollar spend on NDIS advertising.
Senate Estimates heard that the Government plans to spend twenty two million dollars over two financial years including seven million dollars in the next 27 days.
The Government did not answer why twenty two million dollars needs to be spent on a scheme that will not be completed until 2019/2020.
There is a need to communicate to potential NDIS participants in the launch sites that commence on 1 July in the Barwon, the Hunter Valley, Tasmania and South Australia, but twenty two million dollars on a national campaign would seem to be excessive.
Senator Fifield put the Government on notice that if millions of dollars are spent on television advertisements that simply contain a slogan and a reference to a website, they would be harshly judged.
NDIS advertisements should provide factual information about who will and will not be eligible.
If the television advertisements do not make the point that of the four million Australians with disability, only 460,000 with significant disability will be supported by the NDIS, the only conclusion to be drawn would be that the Government was misleading the public for political benefit.
The twenty two million dollars will also be used to rebrand the NDIS as DisabilityCare Australia a name that is deeply disliked and seen as patronising by many people with disabilities and the organisations that support them.
The Government needs to rethink the name DisabilityCare Australia before spending twenty two million dollars promoting it.