2016 Public Oral Health Awards

Some of Victoria’s most dedicated dental professionals have been honoured at the 2016 Public Oral Health Awards for their commitment to public dental services.

The awards, presented by Dental Health Services Victoria, are given annually to dental professionals and volunteers who go above and beyond to care for those Victorians most in need of dental treatment and care.

ADAVB congratulates the winners:
Star of Public Dentistry: Dr Martin Hall, North Richmond Community Health
Community Oral Health Champion: Diana Brown, EACH Social and Community Health
Public Dental Clinic of the Year: Ballarat Health Services
Oral Health Project of the Year: Keeping Kids Smiling, Link Health and Community

Pictured: Dr Hall with DHSV Board Chair, Dr Zoe Wainer (left), and DHSV CEO, Dr Deborah Cole.

Curb sugary drinks consumption - AHHA

Government action is urgently needed to curb the consumption of sugary drinks in Australia, according to the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA).

Releasing a position statement on sugar-sweetened drinks at the National Primary Health Care Conference in Melbourne, AHHA Chief Executive Alison Verhoeven (pictured) said: “Our consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is among the highest in the world, with Australians and New Zealanders consuming an average of 76 litres of these drinks per person every year - that’s simply way too much".

The Association called on Australian governments to develop and fund evidence based measures aimed at reducing consumption of these drinks. This could include taxing sugar-sweetened beverages; restricting sales in hospitals and schools; stronger advertising restrictions, especially during children’s television viewing times; mandatory front of package “healthy star” labeling; and public awareness campaigns.

The Australian Dental Association supports the Rethink Sugary Drink campaign.

Sugar-sweetened drink taxes have already been introduced in Mexico, France, Norway, Chile, Finland, Hungary, St Helena, Mauritius, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga and 33 states in the USA. The UK is introducing a 20% sugar tax in April 2018. The Grattan Institute has just released a report which sets out options and recommendations for such a tax.

Private health insurance industry boosts profits

The private health insurance industry recorded a net profit after tax of $1.4 billion in the year to last September. This was an increase of 28.3%.

Premium revenue grew to $22.3 billion, a 5.9% increase while fund benefits only rose by 4.9% to $19 billion.

The figures are contained the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s quarterly private health insurance publication.

The Australian Dental Association believes that dental extras cover in health policies contribute significantly to the profit of private health insurance funds.

Concerned about the value of dental extras in many private health insurance policies, Australian Dental Association is encouraging people to review their cover and consider lodging a complaint with the Australian Ombudsman.

Meet future health sector leaders

This year’s Health Sector Leadership Program (HSLP) concluded with 26 participants graduating at a formal function in the Old Treasury Building on Monday, 14 November.. Congratulations to every participant.

The dentists who graduated are: Drs Samantha Lew, Mike Mladenovic, Emily Pow and Thomas Webb.

ADVAB initiated the HSLP in 2011 aiming to support the development of future leaders working in the health sector. This intensive and challenging program is wholly supported by Guild Insurance Ltd. and  facilitated by Leadership Victoria, who are highly respected for the quality of their leadership development programs.

The participants are members of ADAVB, Pharmaceutical Society of Australian Victorian Branch, Speech Pathology Australia, Optometry Victoria, Osteopathy Australia, Chiropractors Association of Australia (Victoria), and the Dietitians Association of Australia.

Do you work in the public dental sector?

2017 Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) campaign for public sector dentists.

Together with Professionals Australia, we are planning our 2017 public dentist EBA negotiations campaign. If you are an ADAVB member who works in the public dental sector on a full-time, part-time, or casual basis, please log in to our website and update your public sector employment details.

Updating your employment details will help us to contact you and involve you in our campaign activities.

Update your public clinic employment details

Dentists urge patients to look at their 'dental extras' coverage

Victorians are being asked to consider the value of the dental component of their 'extras' private health insurance following the State launch of ADA’s ‘#time2switch’ campaign.

Having examined the dental extras component of thousands of private health insurance policies, ADA is asking Australians to consider why their 'dental extras' rebate is decreasing while  health fund premiums rise.

ADA Federal President Dr Rick Olive AM RFD (pictured) urged ADAVB members attending a Melbourne forum to ask their patients to check the merits of their dental extras cover and consider lodging a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Dentists have been provided with resource materials to encourage patients to visit the 'time2switch' website and consider a complaint to the Ombudsman.  Within the first 2 weeks of the campaign, over 2700 complaints had already been lodged, and many thousands more are anticipated.

ACCC concerned about private health insurance practices

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released its annual report on the private health insurance industry, highlighting concerns about how some insurers notify consumers of reductions in their insurance coverage and benefits.

The ACCC report finds that among some insurers, poor practices exist around notifying consumers of cuts to their insurance coverage and benefits.

These practices are leading to bill shock, inadequate cover and reduced access to health care. Some examples include insurers: not notifying consumers of reductions in their coverage or benefits, including changes to insurers’ arrangements with health care service providers using unclear, uninformative or misleading information to notify consumers of reductions in their insurance coverage or benefits.

The report also finds that complexity in the Australian private health insurance market continues to increase and this is making it harder for consumers to understand and react when insurers change their coverage or benefits.

To help consumers better understand the value of their dental (extras) cover, the ADA Inc. has launched a new campaign - #time2switch