Page 1883 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Cost estimates equate to that figure to $4.1 billion. While on that figure, I again go to those figures where not having dental treatment or universal access to dental treatment is picked up elsewhere in the figures of $426 million through the private health insurance rebate and untreated dental care costing Medicare $350 million a year and the hospital system at least $100 million.
A number of parties have been calling on the federal government to invest significant funds into state dental programs in the 2012-13 budget to make this first step towards universal commonwealth funded dental care for all Australians. The Greens plan for a denticare scheme would involve it being phased in over five years, starting with the most in-need recipients—that is, low income earners, young people, pensioners and those with chronic disease. The scheme would also build the dental workforce and encourage dental health promotion.
There are options on how the commonwealth and states might share responsibility. Those options fall into two broad categories. The first is to provide cap funding that may be used at private dentists, with the patient paying the difference, which has the advantage of using available resources. The second is to expand and support public dentistry, which has the advantage of cost effectiveness in the long run. The Greens federally negotiated with the Australian government early this year to secure $165 million over three years in funding for dental health, which would be allocated from money raised by the Medicare levy surcharge. This was to ensure that we have a secure commitment to commonwealth funded dental care. It is not a huge amount of money but it is a start.
In conclusion, I hope that both the government and the Liberals will support this motion today. In doing so, we will send a clear signal on behalf of all people in the ACT to our federal counterparts that denticare is long overdue and that we urge the commonwealth government to finally implement it.
DR BOURKE (Ginninderra—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Corrections) (6.13): Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Bresnan for raising this issue related to the oral health status of Australians, the recommendations of the National Advisory Council on Dental Health and accessibility to public dental services in the ACT.
I think you can take it from me that that good oral health is essential to overall health, wellbeing and quality of life. Yet dental disease, oral disease, is the most common disease in people and continues to have a high prevalence in Australia. This is despite the disease being easily prevented. It is the most easily prevented of all diseases that affect humans.
We know that there is a proven connection between socioeconomic status and dental disease. This has been linked with the cost of dental care. Cost is a significant barrier to regular preventative treatment or early interventions. Studies have shown that those accessing public dental services typically have to spend time on waiting lists and their dental experience is heavily weighted towards emergency care, often without effective follow-up treatment.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video