Victorians may soon be able to flash their teeth at a dentist without worrying about their bank balance, if the state's Labor government has its way. In an Australian-first proposal, the party promises free checkups and treatments - including fillings, root canals, and extractions - at 10 new public dental clinics, if re-elected in the November state election.
Premier Ben Carroll, who will announce the plan at a rally on Saturday (marking fewer than 100 days until the election), calls it 'structural cost-of-living support' and a national-first intervention by a state government. 'Only Labor will deliver free dental care for all Victorians,' he declared, in case anyone thought the other guys might.
The plan, costing $230 million, would see seven clinics in Melbourne and three in regional Victoria, targeting areas with service gaps. They'd be open 9am to 9pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on weekends, walk-in style, with priority for urgent cases like dental pain, swelling, or accidents. Once fully operational, they'd treat over 100,000 Victorians a year - a lot of pearly whites.
Health Minister Ingrid Stitt compares it to the state's urgent care clinics, where you can 'turn up and get the care you need.' She adds, 'Getting dental care shouldn't be determined by your bank balance or where you live.' A novel concept, indeed.
This isn't entirely out of left field. The urgent care clinics were similarly unveiled just three months before the 2022 election, and the feds later chipped in. But it's unclear if the state will seek federal funding for this dental venture.
Currently, free or low-cost dental care in Australia is mostly for kids, Indigenous Australians, and concession card holders. Medicare doesn't cover adult dental, so millions either pay up or skip treatment. In Victoria, the 2026-27 budget already allocated $239 million for dental, including the Smile Squad school program.
Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows Australia spends over $12 billion on dental services, with individuals footing about 61% of that bill. Health insurance covers 19%, the feds 11%, and states 8%. There's also been a spike in people tapping into their superannuation early to pay for dental work - because nothing says retirement security like a root canal.
Guardian Australia reported in 2025 that people were delaying or skipping treatment, with untreated decay rising and record hospital visits for dental issues. The Greens, during the federal election, pushed a $195 billion plan to expand Medicare to adult dental, but they went backwards at the polls. Still, they're not giving up, and federal Labor backbenchers have expressed support for Medicare-funded dental too.
In Victoria, Labor sources hope this announcement kickstarts the party's campaign mode, after weeks of Carroll trying to distance himself from predecessors Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan - by calling a royal commission into construction and pausing work-from-home legislation. Funny thing, though: sources say the dental policy was actually developed under Allan and her team. So much for fresh ideas.