Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the success of the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) which has provided Medicare-funded dental care to children aged between 2 and 17, since the Greens negotiated it when in balance of power government with the Gillard Labor Government;

(b) recognises that cost is a major barrier to access to dental care across the community, and that the lower a person's income, the more likely they are to have chronic oral health problems;

(c) notes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, those living in rural and regional Australia, and low income earners have more than twice the rate of untreated dental decay as high income earners;

(d) acknowledges that untreated dental disease can have very serious health consequences, such as leading to low birth weight and premature babies, increased risk of heart disease and potentially life-threatening infections – poor dental health can also lead to social isolation, poor diet and depression; and

(e) calls on the Government to expand Denticare access to other vulnerable groups, including aged pension recipients and full benefit income support recipients, and holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and all other concession cards.