Oral Health Strategic Framework Update

Thank you for your feedback.

Feedback received on the Draft Oral Health Framework guided the development of the Western NSW Local Health District Oral Health Strategic Framework. The framework provides a strategic foundation for annual operational planning.

A summary page of the Strategic Framework is presented below and the full document is available in the document library.

a list of goals and objectives of the Framework

Draft Oral Health Framework

Help us improve oral health services and outcomes

Western NSW Local Health District provides a range of free dental services for eligible patients.

Our dental services

Eligible patients who live in the Western NSW Local Health District can access free public dental (oral health) services. Our permanent dental clinics are located in:

  • Bathurst
  • Cowra (children only)
  • Dubbo
  • Forbes
  • Mudgee
  • Orange
  • Parkes

Our teams also provide outreach dental services to other communities, including mobile dental services.

Who is eligible for public dental treatment?

  • All children aged under 18 years who live in Western NSW LHD and have a Medicare card can access free dental care at our public dental clinics. Children may also be eligible for the Australian Government's Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), which is like Medicare, to help pay for dental care provided by any service provider.
  • Adults can access our free public dental services if they live in Western NSW LHD, have a valid Medicare card and hold one of the following Australian Government concession cards:
    • Health Care Card
    • Pensioner Concession Card
    • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
  • Improve oral health wellbeing across our communities
  • Deliver high-quality, patient-centred dental care
  • Tailor and target our strategies to improve outcomes for people who need it the most.


What we are doing

The Oral Health Service is developing a new framework for how to improve our dental services and outcomes for patients and communities. The framework will build on the local work that has already been done.

Key goals include to:

  • Improve oral health wellbeing across our communities
  • Deliver high-quality, patient-centred dental care
  • Tailor and target our strategies to improve outcomes for people who need it the most

How can you get involved?

The Oral Health Service is eager to hear from patients and communities about:

  • What is working well and
  • What could be done better.

Please complete the short survey below to share your thoughts. Thankyou!

We will use your views to

We will use your feedback to develop a Framework to guide the delivery of Oral Health Services.

The Framework will be made available here and on the WNSWLHD website. A summary of the consultation and feedback received will be available here.

It is anticipated that the Framework will be finalised in late 2023.