Senator Jordon Steele-John will chair a hearing of the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Provision of and Access to Dental Services in Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday 20th September 2023.
The committee will discuss urgent reforms to increase access to dental care and explore ways to reduce the Queensland public dental waiting list, which has 135,000 people on the list.
The hearing will bring together oral healthcare organisations representing large cohorts of the community including a panel representing older Australians who will call for the need to urgently implement a Seniors Dental Benefits Schedule.
The committee will also hear from Deakin Health Economics whose submission calls for oral health to be integrated within primary healthcare, funded under Medicare’s Health Insurance Act 1973, getting closer to the goal of universal access to affordable oral healthcare.
Senator Jordon Steele-John, Chair of the Committee and Australian Greens Spokesperson for Health said:
“We are hearing from the community that they simply can not afford to go to the dentist. There is a deep urgency for the government to transform access to oral health care in this country.
“The lack of access to free dental care is having far-reaching consequences across our public health system.
“No one should choose between paying their rent, paying for food, and accessing oral health care.
“When people can’t afford to go to the dentist their only option is to be admitted to hospital. We saw in 2020-21, that 19,272 people were admitted to hospitals across Queensland because of preventable dental conditions. These hospitalisations could have been avoided with timely and free oral healthcare.
“Too many older Australians can’t afford to go to the dentist, this is leading to 69% of people aged over 75 experiencing the pain of gum disease. 69% of people experience something that is totally preventable. Instead of taking the decisive action to establish a Seniors Dental Beenfit Schedule, a recommendation of the Aged Care Royal Commission, the government is dragging its feet and leaving older Australians to live with tooth pain and ongoing, preventable disease.”