Thursday, 30 November 2023

North-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:47): (615) My question today is to the Minister for Health, and it relates to the public dental waiting list. People who live in Eltham are waiting up to three years for public dental appointments – three years. During this time their dental issues are just going to get worse. Good dental hygiene is important for so many reasons. It affects how we eat, how we look, how we present ourselves publicly and other elements of our health and wellbeing. While I would like to see dental care fully included federally as part of Medicare, in the absence of that it is critical that we have properly resourced public dentists that are available to everyone who needs them in our state. Minister, what will you do to reduce the waitlist for public dental care in Eltham?