Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The Dental Benefits Act provided the framework for the former Labor government's dental scheme for kids, or the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. The scheme provides children of families who receive government benefits with up to $1,000 in dental treatment every two years. Only last week we saw media reports that the government has this scheme in its sights for cutting. The Australian Dental Association raised the alarm after a meeting Minister Susan Ley had with health and dental groups. In the meeting the minister is reported to have told the groups that the government did not think that this scheme, which is designed to reach three million children in low- to middle-income families, was an effective use of funds and she warned there would be further changes.

The kids dental scheme was a fantastic initiative of the former Labor government. We have long known that dental health is integrally linked to overall health and, if you have good dental health, you have overall good health. We know that, and that is why this scheme is so important. When Labor was in government we invested heavily in a strong dental system that would provide care for those who need it most. We boosted public dental funding, constructed new dental facilities across the country and we established the kids dental scheme, which was designed to help three million children across the country.

In their first budget, the Liberals got rid of $400 million worth of that investment in public dental—for the construction of new facilities, helping train new dentists and so on—but in their second budget they started the attack on the kids dental scheme, another fantastic investment made by the former Labor government. In last year's budget $125 million was cut from the kids dental scheme. This scheme means that more than three million Australian kids can get basic dental care for the first time—and it is basic dental care. It is means tested. It is targeted to the families who need it most. It is $1,000 every two years for kids up to the time they turn 18. It covers check-ups, fluoride treatments, cleaning, scaling, fillings and so on. It means that these kids start life with decent teeth, which then provides them with a decent health outcome. Last week I read that more kids than ever are having all of their baby teeth pulled out of their mouths in hospitals because dental care has become such a critical issue in Australia.

Instead of promoting this scheme, instead of making sure that the parents of every child who is eligible gets access to the scheme, the Liberals have hidden it and now it looks like they plan to cut it. More than a million children have already benefited, but that means that there are two million more kids out there who are eligible who have not yet benefited. So there is a huge number of children out there who could benefit from this scheme but are not going to get that opportunity.

Instead of cutting the scheme, Mr Turnbull should be looking at the advice of his own department which is contained in this report. There are 11 recommendations in the report and they go to a number of things. I want to touch on some of those recommendations. Recommendation 1 is:

Provide greater clarity and certainty for the public sector on continuing access to the Child Dental Benefits Schedule.

Recommendation 2 is:

Make the eligibility notification letter attractive and recognisable as a ‘voucher’ for services.

Recommendation 3 is:

Engage experts in marketing and communication to better target efforts on programme promotion including, for example, utilising communication channels other than the eligibility notifications.

Recommendation 4 is:

Ensure hard copy notifications are sent to families who receive notification through myGov, unless they have specifically opted out of hard copy communications.

Recommendation 5 is:

Provide hard copy follow up notifications to eligible families who have not accessed services.

Recommendation 6 is:

Expand the Child Dental Benefits Schedule within the scope of ‘basic dental services’.

Recommendation 7 is:

Amend the Rules to provide flexibility for time-based restrictions.

Recommendation 8 is:

Allow benefits for in-hospital dental services when clinically appropriate.

Recommendation 9 is:

Adopt the Department of Veterans’ Affairs ‘step-down fees’ model for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule.

Recommendation 10 is:

At the next opportunity, align the fee levels of the CDBS Dental Benefits Schedule with those of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs benefit schedule.

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