Completion of consultations for next National Oral Health Plan

Consultations to inform the development of Australia’s next 10-year National Oral Health Plan have been completed. We will use the feedback to update the plan.

Date published:
Audience:
General public

We are building a new national plan to replace Australia's National oral Health Plan 2015–2024. All governments are partners in the process.

We are developing the plan in 2 phases:

  • Phase 1 developed a draft framework for the new plan. This phase focused on stakeholder consultation and review of the existing plan. This phase finished in October 2025.
  • Phase 2 will deliver the final plan, incorporating consultation feedback. We started this phase in October 2025 and will finish in early 2026.

Engagement activities

Engagement activities included:

  • national stakeholder workshops
  • targeted consultations with rural and remote stakeholders
  • culturally appropriate engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers and organisations.

A public survey conducted in September 2025 received 235 responses.

What we heard

Feedback highlighted broad support for the draft framework, alongside calls for:

  • a stronger focus on health equity
  • cultural safety to be a central principle
  • embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander oral health priorities throughout the plan
  • a focus on prevention
  • emphasising child oral health and early intervention.

Next steps

We’re now finalising the plan, drawing on valuable consultation feedback, which included:

  • policy insights
  • consumer feedback
  • practical experience
  • thoughtful consideration of the plan’s long-term impact.

Once agreed by all Health Ministers, we will publish the new plan.

Read a summary of the consultations.

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