Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to make a brief contribution in support of the Dental Benefits Amendment Bill 2021, which was introduced to the House of Representatives on 4 August this year. The Dental Benefits Amendment Bill amends the Dental Benefits Act 2008 to allow eligible children to access the Child Dental Benefits Schedule from birth. It delivers on the government's 2021-22 budget commitment to lower the age eligibility restrictions in the Child Dental Benefits Schedule and is based on recommendations from the Report on the Fourth Review of the Dental Benefits Act 2008 as well as extensive stakeholder feedback.

While this amendment is minor, it will allow any eligible child aged under 18 years to access dental care. As a parent and now recently a grandparent, I appreciate how important this amendment is and know it will allow children to start a positive relationship with dental health professionals earlier in their lives. Positive dental experiences for children early on would instil the importance of good oral hygiene at a young age. It would also stop the negative stigma around dental practitioners, which could be reinforced if initial dental experiences required serious treatments.

Healthy teeth, mouth and gums are all important aspects for a person's general health and wellbeing. Good dental health means you can eat, drink and speak without pain or discomfort. Dental health has been something that successive Australian governments made a focus over the past three decades. Adding fluoride to drinking water has helped reduce tooth decay in both children and adults, but statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show we can still improve. For example, in Australia three in 10 people delay or avoid seeing a dentist because of the cost, one in four children aged between five and 10 years have untreated decay in baby teeth, and one in 25 people aged 15 and over have no natural teeth left.

The Commonwealth works with state and territory governments to fund dental services like the Child Dental Benefits Schedule to improve dental health. Each of these governments has agreed to the National Oral Health Plan 2015-2024, with the goal of improving health and wellbeing across the Australian population by improving oral health status and reducing the burden of poor oral health. This plan sets out six foundation areas: oral health promotion, which covers a range of initiatives to reduce the occurrence and impact of oral disease, such as community water fluoridation; accessibility of oral health services—and I note that, in my home state of Tasmania, Oral Health Services Tasmania services 29 clinics across the state; systems alignment and integration of oral and general health systems supplied by public, private and non-government organisations to improve effectiveness and health outcomes; safety and equality, with the National Oral Health Plan arguing for stronger consumer engagement in developing performance standards and collaboration of outcomes; workforce and the capacity to meet the community's needs for prevention and treatment of poor oral health now and in future, including in locations where oral health services are needed; and, finally, research and evaluation to inform the development of appropriate, effective and sustainable oral health services.

The National Oral Health Plan shows that oral conditions are the third-highest reason for acute preventable hospital admissions in Australia. More than 63,000 Australians are hospitalised because of oral conditions each year, with many of these requiring dental treatments under general anaesthetic. These cases include young children with high levels of dental disease and adults with complex medical conditions. The Dental Benefits Amendment Bill increases access to prevention and treatment services for children, which supports parental promotion and modelling of good oral hygiene from a young age. All this helps to prevent serious dental decay as children develop their full adult teeth and also promotes healthy dental habits into adulthood.

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule provides initial dental benefits, such as examinations, X-rays, cleaning, fillings, root canals and tooth extractions. It was established in 2014 and has delivered more than 38 million services to over three million children. This represents more than $2.3 billion in benefits over seven years. When the indexation rate is updated on 1 January 2022 the benefit will increase from $1,013 to $1,026 per eligible child, applied over two calendar years. The scheme is available in both the public and the private sector to support the broadest range of services, provider choices and locations. The Dental Benefits Amendment Bill will add an extra 300,000 children to the scheme and will cost $5.4 million over four years. This is a significant contribution that supports dental access for children from a very young age. The Australian government will continue to work with public and private providers to improve the delivery of dental services to our children. I commend this bill to the Senate.