Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Health Insurance Amendment (Prescribed Dental Patients and Other Measures) Bill 2023, which seeks to amend the Health Insurance Act 1973 with three administrative changes, which are supported by the coalition. Among other measures, the bill will improve access to the Medicare Benefits Schedule for eligible persons requiring treatment for cleft and craniofacial conditions by removing the age restriction, which is currently 22 years of age. Cleft lip or palate conditions affect one in every 800 babies born in Australia. This bill will not significantly alter average patient numbers, but it will nevertheless support improvements to patient treatment plans to ensure support is available for those affected by these conditions.

The coalition supports the intent of this bill to improve access to affordable and life-changing procedures for those Australians impacted by these conditions and to ensure increased access to critical health care through Medicare. However, more can be done for these children, such as timely and affordable speech therapy. I had the pleasure to meet Philippa and Jessica from CleftPAlS Victoria to discuss children born with a cleft palate condition and the significant challenges they and their families have to deal with. Throughout their childhood, there are significant surgeries and ongoing speech therapy. These issues often do not end when they become adults, and I thank Philippa and Jessica for sharing their stories with me and representing their community. They do amazing work. It is heart-wrenching as a parent, when you hear the stories of children born with these challenges. Their parents are doing amazing work to support them, and we need to continue to do all we can to support these families and these children. I commend Philippa and Jessica not only for the amazing work they do supporting their own families but for being the strong advocates they are for the cleft palate families of Australia. The passion they have is clear to see.

Philippa's daughter was born with a complete cleft of the hard and soft palate. Even though Philippa is a speech pathologist by profession, she still needed assistance with her daughter's feeding, hearing difficulties and speech development. I can't imagine what it would be like for a family with no background in speech pathology or health care to navigate this experience. Philippa definitely shared her experience and how tough it was, even with the advantage that she had.

This legislation arose following the findings of the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce Final report on the cleft dental services MBS items2020, which suggested that the current age limit of 22 years for eligible persons requiring treatment for cleft and craniofacial conditions be lifted. Age limits for access to the scheme were initially established on the basis that patients with cleft and craniofacial conditions would generally have completed most specialist dental work associated with their condition once their facial growth was complete, on average at 22 years of age. However, there continue to be a small number of patients who are denied treatment on the basis of the age limit in circumstances where the treatment would be clinically beneficial to the patient's condition and general health. For patients who have had their surgeries deferred beyond the age of 22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this bill will serve an important purpose in enabling them to access Medicare benefits for the treatment they require.

Research has shown that strong speech skills are essential for a child's social and educational development. Being able to speak clearly is essential for literacy and language development, and underpins a child's ability to make friends at school, deal with bullies and develop self-esteem. This investment is not just helping these young children today but is going to pay dividends for them and their family through their whole life. It's wonderful to see that the bipartisan support for this bill is going to allow it to go through the House.

Parents currently have two options to access speech therapy, and this is why we need to look at speech therapy and supporting parents. They can wait up to two years for a public service or pay thousands of dollars in the private sector. Although there is some assistance available through chronic disease management arrangements, there are only five services per year across all allied health, and up to 90 per cent of children with clefts require treatment for over five years. If the government is serious about strengthening Medicare and improving access to affordable and potentially life-changing or life-saving health care, then it must pursue further urgent action to do so.

The Strengthening Medicare taskforce report released by the government, while clear on the problems facing primary care in Australia, contains no specific actions, no funding and no time lines. Disappointingly, the report has no urgency. There is nothing in this report to address the immediate challenge facing our health system, which is workforce shortages. For months and months we've seen the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health and Aged Care talking about the crisis in health care and the workforce shortages that are putting significant pressure on the system, but we have not seen any tangible plan from this government to address this critical issue. Even today in question time, 10 months into government and six weeks from their second budget, the minister for health was talking about the past, talking about 2014 and looking to blame others.

There is a great saying that I like to live by: if you spend your life looking in the rear vision mirror when you're driving you'll end up crashing, and that's what this government is doing. They are focused on the past and have no plans for the health of Australians.

The opposition has called on the government to immediately provide the time lines and to detail the funding required to ease the pressure on Australia's hardworking doctors and nurses, following the release of this report. Now, aspirations are commendable. But without urgent action to follow, they are not going to assist Australians with their significant cost-of-living pressures, which are continuing to rise: $55 for a script; $60 out of pocket for a GP—all while energy bills are increasing and inflation is skyrocketing. At a time when Australians are struggling with skyrocketing electricity bills, mortgage repayments and grocery bills, we are now seeing the cost of going to the doctor and to specialists skyrocketing too.

On cleft palate and the speech therapy scheme: I urge the minister to review the extension of the speech therapy scheme. This is an investment that will make real impacts on the lives of Australians. We have an amazing opportunity in this House to be the voice of our constituents, and I know that Philippa is very passionate about this issue. In fact, she emailed me today to urge me to speak on this bill and to continue to call on the government to look at speech therapy for those with cleft palates. So I want to finish my remarks with the words of Philippa. I can't think of better words than hers to describe why this government needs to invest in speech therapy. Philippa said:

While extending the speech therapy scheme would not be particularly costly for the Government given the small number of people with clefts in Australia, it would make an enormous difference to the parents who are working so hard to give their children the best chance to reach their potential.

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