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DisabilityCare logo had $130,000 price tag

The Labor government spent $130,000 on a new logo for the national disability insurance scheme which the coalition says it will not use.

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The Labor government spent $130,000 on a new logo for the national disability insurance scheme. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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The logo for the national disability insurance scheme's rebranded name - DisabilityCare Australia - cost taxpayers $130,000.

But it will have been money down the drain if the coalition wins the federal election because they've vowed to dump the DisabilityCare tag.

The government quietly announced the name change in March, burying it in a press statement about playgroups.

The rebranding angered many people with disabilities who felt the new name was condescending.

A document obtained by AAP under Freedom of Information laws shows Sydney brand consultants Landor Associates were paid $131,032 to come up with a logo and brand strategy as part of a four-phase project.

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The company also received additional undisclosed amounts for production of new concepts paid at a cost per option, payments for tweaking concepts, payments for fonts, travel costs and copywriting fees.

The government spent $22 million on an advertising campaign for DisabilityCare ahead of the opening of launch sites last month.

It spent close to $200,000 on focus group testing of names to rename the scheme, according to documents given to AAP under freedom of information laws in July.

The documents revealed the NDIS agency rolling out the scheme did not like the DisabilityCare name describing it as "passive" and "confused".

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the coalition will drop the name and simply call the scheme the NDIS.

When fully operational, DisabilityCare is expected to cover 410,000 Australians with disabilities and cost upward of $15 billion a year.


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