DCAs ten-year campaign for reclassification

It has been 10 years since Dental Clinic Assistants first started campaigning to get proper recognition of the valuable work they do through a reclassification of their role.

The great win of the first attempt was the $3000 Attraction and Retention Benefit (ARB) which DCAs and members across Dental Health Services have successfully maintained through bargaining and campaigning for over a decade.

Dental Clinic Assistants work in both school and adult clinics across our State. They assist dentists and therapists in providing care and treatment to Western Australian children and some of the most in-need members of the community. Despite the skills, knowledge and responsibility required of Dental Clinic Assistants, their base salary is only General Division Level 1.

Their role has change significantly over recent years with additional knowledge and skills requirements, accreditation and training responsibilities being incorporated without proper recognition and recompense for the value of this additional work.

We have approached the reclassification from several angles over the years. The invaluable outcome of these repeat attempts is ten years’ worth of evidence, case studies and data to present to Dental Health Services and the Department of Health to support the claim.

Members submitted the claim for reclassification following the Mass Members Meeting last week.

We now eagerly await feedback from Dental Health Services and the Department of Health. DHS will review our claim and then submit it to the Department for further inspection.