Submission on the National Oral Health Plan 2025-34
Author: Joanna Le, Co-Founder
At Friends of Really Excellent Dentistry (FRED), we believe prevention is one of the best ways to improve the oral health of all Australians. We are an organisation that is focused on prevention across the lifespan, evidence, equity in health outcomes and using digital technology to improve health outcomes.
That’s why we’ve made a submission on the Draft Framework of the National Oral Health Plan (2025–2034), an important step towards reshaping how Australia approaches oral health over the next decade.
Oral health is integral to overall wellbeing, but the way oral health care is delivered in Australia remains fragmented, inequitable, and overly focused on treatment rather than prevention.
The impacts are significant: Australians spend over $11 billion a year on dental services, with around 60 per cent of this paid directly by individuals, making cost a major barrier to care.
Every year, about 83,000 people end up in hospital with preventable dental conditions, and an estimated 750,000 GP visits are for dental problems such as toothache or infection. Oral disease also leads to millions of lost school and work days, costing the economy more than $550 million annually.
The draft framework sets out a vision of “better oral health” built on principles of prevention, equity, system integration, workforce development, and innovation. FRED supports this direction and in our submission, we’ve highlighted how it can be strengthened to deliver the biggest impact for all Australians.
Key points from our submission include:
A clear and inclusive vision: Updating the vision to specify “better oral health for all”, ensuring equity is central.
Addressing the commercial determinants of health: Recognising the role of industries such as tobacco and sugary drinks in driving poor oral health outcomes, to align with the WHO Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023-2030.
Harnessing community organisations: Extending the oral health system beyond the dental sector and into trusted community settings, particularly for people experiencing the greatest disadvantage.
Embracing digital innovation: Using technology and digital platforms to expand the reach of prevention and health promotion programs, especially in regional and remote areas.
Equity across the lifespan: Strengthening the focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people living outside metropolitan areas, and others who experience poorer health outcomes.
Investing in the National Plan: Funding to implement the National Plan; clear targets and indicators; ongoing governance oversight including people with lived experience; and a clear outcomes reporting framework, and timeframes to track progress.
We welcome the increased attention on prevention and equity in this draft framework, and we look forward to working with governments, health professionals and community partners to bring the new National Oral Health Plan to life.
You can read FRED’s full submission here.