Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

(Time expired)

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would also like to speak on the Report on the third review of the Dental Benefits Act 2008. This review considered whether the act and associated rules achieved their purpose in supporting the establishment and operation of the Child Dental Benefits Schedule—the CDBS—from 1 January 2014 and the operation and closure of the Medicare Teen Dental Plan up to 31 December 2013. The report

In particular, the Panel noted the success of the CDBS in targeting the oral health of young Australians at an age where preventative measures can be most effective. It supported the right of every child to access dental treatment from both the private and the public sectors.

There is the important finding for those opposite to note:

The Panel agreed that it would make clear recommendations to Government to ensure the ongoing success and effectiveness of the CDBS.

I hope that a copy of this report makes its way to the desk of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health, because, as we now know, the CDBS is set to be next in line for the government's never-ending quest for health cuts.

The $2.7 billion dental program has provided one million Australian children with affordable dental care over the past two years. Nearly all those children have been bulk-billed, and 80 per cent were treated by private dentists. In the first year alone, nearly 900,000 children accessed the program. Many of these children are from families that have never previously been able to afford a dentist.

Labor initiated the scheme, following alarming reports by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare that 42 per cent of five-year-olds and 61 per cent of nine-year-olds had experienced decay in their baby teeth, and 58 per cent of 14-year-olds had experienced permanent tooth decay. Despite the overwhelming need for the scheme, it has been under attack from the Liberals since the moment it commenced. Hopefully now they can read this review and see the difference the CDBS is making.

This review also makes a number of important recommendations that I hope the government will very seriously consider. Instead of ripping funding out of this program, the government should be promoting it. While more than a million children have accessed the scheme, it is admittedly far fewer than the anticipated three million, and the majority of the recommendations in the report go to this issue, supporting exactly what Labor has been saying, many parents remain unaware the scheme exists, and the Abbott and Turnbull governments have done nothing to address this. They have done nothing to promote it. Instead, in last year's budget the government ripped $125.6 million from the CDBS, and now we hear that the government is set to axe the program completely in the upcoming budget—whenever that might be.

However, I hope that those opposite can take note of the findings in this report and abandon their ridiculous attacks on this program. If they will not do this then maybe they will listen to the experts in the field. Tony McBride, the Chair of the Australian Health Care Reform Alliance, said:

I'm particularly concerned about the child dental scheme because it is about early intervention. It is already a means-tested scheme so it is targeted to those families from average income and down, those currently least able to afford dental care.

The federal president of the Australian Dental Association, Rick Olive, expressed concern about the news that the CDBS was facing the axe, and urged parents to lobby local representatives to keep the scheme.

The CDBS ensures that children have access to critical preventative dental treatment. That is why the CDBS is so important. The scheme provides eligible children up to $1,000 in dental treatment every two years. We know that the cost of dental health care is a significant barrier to access. In fact, we know that the out-of-pocket costs for dental care are four times higher than what it is for average health care, and now the government are looking to make it even harder for families to access these important health services. (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.