Dental Services

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Health. How will the recent announcements made by the federal government regarding funding for dental services affect South Australians?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:58): I thank the member for Wright for her question. Can I extend my congratulations to the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, who has recently been appointed federal Minister for Health. I am looking forward to working with him in the future, and I hope that he continues in the encouraging manner in which he has begun managing his portfolio. In the short time that he has been the Minister for Health, he has already made a contribution by backflipping on plans announced by his predecessor, the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, to slash dental assistance for children.

Just a week before Christmas, the Turnbull government announced its string of cuts to health services. In addition to scrapping the $2.1 billion Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme and reducing funding provided through the National Partnership Agreement on Adult Public Dental Services, funding for children eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule is to be reduced from $1,000 per child over a two-year period to just $700.

When these announcements were made, I warned that they could cause waiting times for public dental services to blow out, as well as leaving already financially stressed families under even more strain. At the time, I recall a deafening silence from the opposition as they yet again failed to stand up to their colleagues in Canberra. This was yet another example of the Liberal Party showing no mercy when it comes to supporting everyday Australians.

Fortunately, it seems that the Turnbull government has now heeded the warnings from the South Australian government and the Australian Dental Association, at least in part, as an announcement was made last week that the benefits cap would be kept at $1,000. Nevertheless, this needs to be considered in light of recent criticisms that, while this entitlement has been available since 2014, they have been hesitant to advertise or make parents aware that they are actually eligible to receive it. This has reportedly resulted in only a third of the millions of children eligible for this rebate across Australia actually receiving it.

In South Australia, despite the best efforts of the South Australian Dental Service to promote the scheme as widely as possible, it is estimated that less than half of eligible children have accessed it. In addition to this, the federal government still hasn't provided South Australia with a copy of the new National Partnership Agreement on Adult Public Dental Services, so we are not able to adequately plan how to provide public dental services over the coming years. However, we do know that the funding will be less than we have previously received and that the commonwealth will pay us a lower rate than present. This will obviously do nothing to improve waiting times for public dental services in South Australia and, if anything, creates a very real risk that they will increase.

I call on the federal minister to break with the decisions made by his predecessor and commit to an appropriate amount of funding that will allow the South Australian government to provide the level of public dental services that our community deserves.