ADA annual general meeting 2022: past achievements and future direction

While annual general meetings (AGM) are often about a recounting of the year gone past and an acknowledgement of what has been achieved, they are also about looking forward, something that then-new President Dr Stephen Liew remarked upon as he introduced the ADA’s virtual AGM last November which began by paying tribute outgoing President, Dr Mark Hutton.

Dr Mark Hutton, who served throughout most of the COVID pandemic, and who showed real leadership, was praised for a considerable list of achievements and the way in which his tenure as President has left behind a much stronger organisation which is starting a lot more like the members the ADA represents.

Following an acknowledgement of Country, the AGM moved onto a discussion of agenda items such as consideration of the financial standing on the Association, new Constitutional clauses and a presentation by Dr Liew which explored the achievements by the ADA over the last year.

These achievements are based on a history which began in 1909 and which has continued through to the present day, with Dr Liew stressing that the ADA is owned by its members and that each of the representatives on the Federal Council are their voice on a national level on behalf of the profession.

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Key achievements outlined, which were couched in the context of challenges both past and present triggered by the COVID pandemic, included:

- A transition through the intensity of patient bookings after the borders and practices reopened.

- Incredibly successful Dental Health Week across the country.

- The release of the Fourth Edition of the Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control.

- The launch of Peer which has proven hugely successful with an uptake by members in excess of similar organisations.

- Teeth.org.au was released providing consumer-oriented oral health information.

- The release of the Thirteenth Edition of The Australian Schedule of Dental Services and Glossary.

- A wide range of advocacy efforts including the Stop the Rot media campaign in the lead up to the May 2022 Federal Election.

For further information on these initiatives, go to the 2021-2022 Annual Report. 

A key part of this year’s AGM, as was the case previously, was a town hall-style member Q&A which was moderated by ADA Deputy CEO Eithne Irving.

Among the many issues discussed during the interactive discussion were:

- The size of the typical board is 10 people while Federal Council has 17 – are there are plans to minimising the ADA board size?

- Transparency around ADA committees – why don’t they act more like a Senate Committee with availability of minutes, transcripts of discussions etc.

- Availability of the textbooks and Library staff, a question which led to an exploration of the different between the National Digital Library and the physical library run by the ADA’s NSW Branch.

- Concern about the TGA requirement that dentists register as manufacturers and has that been finally resolved or ongoing?

- Why are different services are provided by different parts of the ADA?

- Consideration of orofacial pain management as a specialty.

If any member has an additional question, please pose them via Peer, the member-only ADA online community.