In a huge victory for our children’s oral health, the Turnbull Government has been forced into yet another embarrassing backflip on their cuts to the Child Dental Benefits Scheme, just over a month after implementing them on January 1.

To kick off the New Year, the Government slashed the amount of dental assistance eligible children could receive under the scheme by $300 a child. They pursued this cut despite admitting 1 in 4 children who use the Scheme would be negatively impacted - leaving a quarter of a million children worse off.

Let’s be clear – the only reason the Government has scrapped this cut is not because they wanted to, but because they did not have the numbers in the Senate and it would have been disallowed by a Labor motion this afternoon.

Labor has never given up fighting for this program against Malcolm Turnbull’s cuts, and we are pleased to have been able to protect it.

The CDBS is Labor’s policy, established by a Labor government in response to alarming evidence about the oral health of Australian children, and because we know that dental health in children is the best predictor of dental health as adults.

Malcolm Turnbull originally planned to abolish the Scheme completely, only backflipping after Labor fought to have the cut removed from their Omnibus legislation last year. Their latest cuts were yet another attack on the successful program.

Unfortunately though, this announcement does nothing to restore the massive $300 million a year cut to adult public dental services that will see 337,000 Australians lose access to life-changing dental services, putting more pressure on waiting lists.

Attempting to scrap a proven program to help children access affordable dental care was always in the running for Malcolm Turnbull’s cruellest cut. It might have taken over a year, but Labor is pleased that the scheme has been protected and the Government has finally dropped their cuts altogether.