$4 Billion Dental Spend on Children, Low Income Adults and the Bush
More than three million children will be eligible for government-subsidised dental care, in the same way they’re now entitled to Medicare-funded GP visits.
View by date:
Previous MinistersPDF printable version of $4 Billion Dental Spend on Children, Low Income Adults and the Bush (PDF 24 KB)
29 August 2012
More than three million children will be eligible for government-subsidised dental care, in the same way they’re now entitled to Medicare-funded GP visits.
Under a landmark $4 billion package, the Gillard Labor Government will also provide dental services to more than one million low income adults and Australians in rural and remote areas, focusing especially on pensioners.
The Dental Health Reform package is an unprecedented initiative to address increasingly poor oral health amongst Australians – in particular, among low and middle income families.
The six-year package announced today includes:
- $2.7 billion for around 3.4 million Australian children who will be eligible for subsidised dental care;
- $1.3 billion for around 1.4 million additional services for adults on low incomes, including pensioners and concession card holders, and those with special needs; who will have better access to dental care in the public system; and
- $225 million for dental capital and workforce will be provided to support expanded services for people living in outer metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas.
“Labor believes we have a responsibility to ensure Australians who are least able to afford to go to the dentist, and particularly children, should be given access to government-subsidised oral health care.”
Ms Plibersek said recent studies showed children in the poorest areas experience one and a half times the amount of tooth decay and cavities, compared to those in the wealthiest areas.
“We also know that low income households have more than double the number of family members with untreated tooth decay compared with high income households.”
Ms Plibersek said the $4 billion package was in addition to the $515 million announced in the 2012-13 Budget, which included a blitz on public dental waiting lists, additional dental training and support for people in rural and remote areas.
“This package will deliver a better system of dental health care for Australians that is accessible, affordable and focuses on prevention.”
Children from the aged two to 17 in Family Tax Benefit Part A-eligible families will be entitled to subsidised basic dental treatment, capped at $1,000 per child over a two-year period. This $2.7 billion initiative aims to address dental decay in children, which has been increasing since the 1990s.
“Investment in our children’s teeth is an investment in the future,” said Ms Plibersek.
“We know that poor childhood oral health leads to poor adult oral health, and has wide-ranging impacts on general health and wellbeing, including strain on our health and hospital system.’’
As part of the package, the Gillard Government is providing $1.3 billion to states and territories under a National Partnership Agreement to expand public dental services for low income adults. This funding will depend on the states and territories at least maintaining their current level of dental care services.
And $225 million in funding for dental infrastructure in outer metropolitan, rural and regional areas will assist more Australians, regardless of their location, in gaining access to high quality dental care
The Dental Health Reform package will replace the Medicare Teen Dental Plan and the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme (CDDS). The CDDS, introduced by the Howard Government, was poorly targeted, saw significant waste and over-servicing and failed to address the capacity constraints in existing public dental services.
Legislation to enshrine the new entitlement for children will be introduced, with passage expected this sitting session. The Dental Health Reform package is the result of detailed discussions between the Government and the Australian Greens.
Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.