ADJOURNMENT

Senator POLLEY (Tasmania) (20:13): I rise today to recognise the important work being undertaken by the Australian Dental Industry Association and to acknowledge a recent visit that highlighted the difference oral health education can make in the lives of Australian children. In particular, I'd like to thank Dr Sarah Raphael, who is the director of policy and education at the Australian Dental Industry Association, for organising the visit and for her ongoing commitment to improving oral health outcomes across Australia.

I would also like to thank Danielle Brock, who is the assistant director at Goodstart Early Learning Semaphore South, and her team for their generosity and hospitality. Too often, dental health is treated separately from our broader health, yet we know that good oral health is fundamental to overall good health and wellbeing. Poor dental health can affect a child's nutrition, speech, learning, confidence and quality of life.

That's why the work of the Australian Dental Industry Association is so important. During my visit to Goodstart Early Learning Semaphore South, I had the opportunity to see the Bite Sized Beginnings pilot program in action. Delivered by the Australian Dental Industry Association—in partnership with Goodstart Early Learning; Primary Dental, which is a division of ForHealth Group; and Colgate—the program seeks to connect children and families with oral health education, information about the Child Dental Benefits Schedule and pathways to ongoing preventive dental health care.

One of the highlights of the visit was seeing the children's engagement with Dr Rabbit, Colgate's long-running oral health education mascot, who helps make learning about healthy teeth both engaging and accessible for young children. What impressed me most was the focus on creating positive experiences around dental health. Early exposure to dental education helps build trust and confidence, encouraging regular check-ups and healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

Research shows that early childhood is a critical period for establishing healthy behaviours, and programs like Bite Sized Beginnings help set children up for better health outcomes throughout their lives. It's important as well that this program not only raises awareness with children but helps to educate parents about the Child Dental Benefits Schedule, which was introduced by the Labor government in 2014.

The scheme provides eligible children with access to up to $1,158 in basic dental services over two consecutive calendar years, yet participation remains below 40 per cent of eligible children nationally. The benefits extend beyond the individual child. Better oral health means healthier families, fewer preventable health issues and reduced pressure on our health system.

By reaching families through trusted early learning centres, this pilot program is helping more children access preventive care earlier and informing them how this approach can be expanded into more communities in the future. Importantly, as I said, it is about educating parents. It's about eating healthily.

It's about cleaning your teeth and making the experience of visiting a dentist a lot of fun. That's where Dr Rabbit comes in. If children have their first appointments at a young age with dentists, before they need any work, they're less likely to have apprehensions and anxiety about going to the dentist again.

I thank Dr Raphael, the Australian Dental Industry Association, Danielle Brock and the team at Goodstart for making me feel so welcome but also for the work that they're doing in ensuring that the children at their centre have an introduction in a very positive, fun way with Dr Rabbit, helping to create lifelong good oral health practices. I commend it, and I'd like to see this rolled out to all early childhood education centres so that those benefits reach all of the children that need that really good start.

After all, if you look after your teeth from when you get your first set of teeth right through your entire life, your general health will be a lot better. We will save money, but it's about being able to prevent those terrible things that sometimes you go to the dentist for. (Time expired)