And that's a wrap on 2018!

That’s a wrap! The ADAVB office closes today (Friday 21 December) at 5pm and reopens on Wednesday 2 January 2019.

It has been a huge year at ADAVB and we wish to thank everyone for making it so great. Whether you attended an event, served on committees or Council, or engaged with us through our communications – we are extremely thankful for your involvement, and look forward to the new year!

Some 2018 highlights include:

• Dr Kevin Morris elected President.

• Welcomed four new councillors: Drs Igor Cernavin, Linton Nash, Carolyn Ng and Devin Ong.

• Record number of voters in the ADAVB Council elections.

• Highest number of members since 2013.

• Significant new discounts introduced for first and second year graduates.

• Parent leave membership introduced.

• 25 per cent increase in first year graduate members and 17 per cent increase in second year members.

• Guild Insurance selected as provider of ADAVB Indemnity scheme following detailed tender process by consortium of ADA branches.

• Dr Stephen Liew elected to Federal ADA Council.

• Dr Sathyan Saranathan of Goulburn Valley Dental Group awarded ADAVB BOQ Specialist $10,000 CPD Bursary.

• Delivered 45 CPD courses, including sell out events and a successful Convention with over 800 delegates.

• Held 17 Practice Plus training events, 21 accreditation workshops and ongoing consulting, at the same time dropping our fees to help more members access services.

• Effective advocacy about public dental funding, resulting in an increase of $12.1 million to reduce public dental waiting lists in May. Continued lobbying increased awareness and resulted in dental health being featured in a number of pre-election announcements.

• Negotiated a new EBA for dentists employed in public hospitals and community health centres, which we hope will be implemented in early 2019. This includes $2000 reimbursement for ADAVB membership fees and CPD costs, and significant pay rises for public dentists.

Read about more 2018 highlights on page 8 to 9 of December's Victorian Dentist. 

View some of this year’s highlights in our Facebook gallery.

We wish everyone a safe, happy and restful festive season and a productive and rewarding 2019.

ADA calls for productivity commission into private health insurance

The ADA has joined forces with a range of consumer and health organisations including CHOICE, National Rural Health Alliance and the Consumers’ Federation of Australia in calling on the Federal Government to launch a Productivity Commission into private health insurance.

A joint letter, delivered to all federal MPs, cites a growing perception by consumers that their private health insurance policies are simply not delivering sufficient value, with 70% of people believing that the policies they hold are 'average' or 'poor' value for money. 

The open call to MPs follows the long-running Time2Switch campaign by the ADA which has highlighted the issue of differential rebates where certain extras cover policyholders receive higher benefits that others who are paying the exact same premiums.

The ADAVB supports the ADA's Time2Switch campaign which aims to highlight the issues members and patients experience with private health insurers.

Had an experience with a health fund that you're not happy with? Complete a health fund incident report and send it back to us.

Visit Time2switch/Make-a-Complaint to sign an online letter of complaint to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.

Patients who are unsatisfied with their dental rebates can visit www.ada.org.au/rebates to sign an online letter of complaint to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.