Announcing the changes this morning, Ms Plibersek said providing free care would free up "massive resources" in the dental sector and improve the dental health of people across the country.
She said the spending would be in two key areas:
- $2.7 billion to provide subsidised treatment for children aged between 2 and 18 years whose families are eligible for family tax benefit A.
- $1.3 billion on early intervention care for low-income Australians and those in remote rural areas.
"We will have a generation of kids for whom going to the dentist is as easy as going to the doctor," she said.
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The deal has been brokered with the Greens and was announced with Greens Senator Richard Di Natale in attendance this morning.
Under the scheme, children will be eligible for up to $1,000 in free care over two years.
Ms Plibersek said parents would have to present a Medicare card to get the free treatment for their children.
But she warned that the $4b package was contingent on the states and territories continuing to fund dental care at or above their current levels of spending.
She said the money was in addition to the $515 million announced in the 2012-13 Budget.
"We know that one in five of Australia’s lowest-income people have not been to a dentist in over five years, if ever," Ms Plibersek said in a statement.
"And we know that low-income households have more than double the number of family members with untreated tooth decay compared with high-income households. It’s just not good enough.
"Labor believes we have a responsibility to ensure Australians who are least able to afford to go the dentist, and particularly children, should be given access to government-subsidised oral health care."
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