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As the national peak body for the dental profession, ADA has a proud history as the voice of Australian dentists and oral health.
The 2025-2028 Strategic Plan leads us into a sustainable future that ensures we remain the trusted voice for the dental profession and oral health in Australia.
Hear directly from ADA President Dr Chris Sanzaro and CEO Dr Kate More to learn more about the 2025-2028 Strategic Plan.
ADA's Strategic Plan prioritises six strategic pillars that are transforming ADA to be a future fit association, providing continued protections, advice and guidance together with professional development, networking and federal representation that our valued members can rely on.
"To develop the strategic plan ... we paused, we asked, we listened, we took action, and now we are investing and delivering."
ADA President Dr Chris Sanzaro
We paused
In 2024, the ADA Board evaluated the Association's Strategic Plan and resolved to refresh the strategy with a clearer focus on sustainability for the longer term.
All membership associations are navigating changing expectations, rising costs and increasing pressure to demonstrate practical value. ADA is not immune to these shifts, which is why standing still is not an option. Investing time, energy and money now in the delivery of the Strategic Plan ensures we are well placed to support and represent you, our members, in the future.
Just like you in your own career, we needed to adapt to ensure we are leading change and transformation to continue to serve our members and deliver strong national leadership in the years ahead.
We asked, we listened
We asked you, our members, what we need to do better and differently to meet your needs for today and tomorrow, and we examined global trends and best practice to inform our strategic planning. In short, members told us they value the essentials:
- trusted clinical and professional standards, guidelines, protections and support
- strong national advocacy for the profession
- access to high-quality CPD and career development opportunities
- a sense of belonging to a community that understands their world.
Members want benefits that better reflect the diverse needs of our community, which differ by life and career stage, practice type and location, ensuring value for all members regardless of stage, setting or motivation. And they want a simpler, more seamless digital experience.
We took action
We will deliver the refreshed 2025-2028 Strategic Plan over three stages and three financial years. The first stage was completed during the 2025-2026 financial year.
Stage 1: Respond (FY 2025-26) - in this foundational stage we reinvigorated our operating model, internal capability and systems to ensure ADA has the right skills and systems required for the growth and transformation members told us they expect and need. A refreshed member value proposition is increasing member value aligned to member need.
Stage 2: Rejuvinate (FY 2026-27) - the focus is on innovation - continuing to elevate our member experience, strengthen national advocacy, and build non-member revenue streams for the long-term sustainability of ADA.
Stage 3: Resilience (FY 2027-28+) - from here on, the focus is embedding strength and resilience to withstand change and position ADA for future growth.
At each stage, outcomes are measured at set milestones, and progress is shared with members.
We invested
The 2025-2028 Strategic Plan is underpinned by the development of our people, our technology, our investments, our governance and our culture.
The ADA board made a considered investment in the transformation strategy to lay the foundations to strengthen our value proposition, modernise how we work, support a stronger federation, and ensure ADA has a sustainable future.
Investing time, energy and money now in the delivery of the Strategic Plan ensures we are well placed to support and represent you, our members, in the future.
The 2025-26 annual report will provide more details on the investment, governance and financial reporting.
- Experienced leaders - who can drive change, generate non-member revenue, and deliver improved member outcomes.
- Enhanced systems - governance, risk and project management systems with clear accountability and an evidence-based measurement and reporting framework.
- Efficiency savings - reducing operating costs and negotiating better contracts.
- Future-fit foundation - built for growth with greater efficiency and enhanced cybersecurity.
We are delivering
The Stage 1 Business Plan (FY 2025-26) guided day-to-day improvements in operations to serve our members, and delivered key initiatives aligned to our six strategic pillars. Here are some highlights of the value we delivered for members in our first year.
Effective national advocacy
We now have a permanent presence in Canberra delivering strong representation on behalf of the dental profession.
Our six-year advocacy strategy is delivering impact for members, the new Consultation Hub is embedding member voice in our policy and advocacy agenda, and the Future of Dentistry Report is guiding our efforts for the next 10 years.
A major advocacy win - International Qualified Health Practitioners
We had a major win this year when ADA’s advocacy resulted in influencing the federal government to recognise that dentistry has a workforce maldistribution problem, not a workforce shortage. 165 members contributed to our submission, supported by detailed workforce analysis and policy research, highlighting the need for targeted solutions to workforce maldistribution, particularly in regional, rural and public settings.
As a result, the Dental Board has paused to reconsider any implementation for experienced internationally qualified practitioners. This policy turnaround was hard fought, thanks to all those members who contributed to shaping and advancing our workforce policy. The door is now open for ADA to influence the government’s next steps to address workforce distribution.
Member experience
Based on member feedback, we’re improving the member experience for dentists at each stage of their career.
Here are just some examples of our strategy in action.
- Trusted protections - 325,000 views of clinical and professional guidelines and resources
- Education - Members completed 53,140 hours of quality, peer-reviewed CPD
- Dental Files CPD podcast - 7000+ downloads in its first two months, with a new Early Careers series supporting dentists to develop their practice and grow their career.
- Inaugural Women in Dentistry event - 100+ women from across Australia building community and connection as we celebrated women's achievements in dentistry.
- Improved digital experience - a website refresh, new join ADA journey, a new social media strategy reaching younger members, more membership CRM self-service for a better member experience
- Strengthened governance - project delivery, data governance and cybersecurity.
Enablers of our delivery
Our people, our technology, our investments, our governance and our culture.
Accountability
We will continue to update members on the progress of the Strategic Plan via annual reports and updates at key milestones.
You told us you value communications which is practical, suited to individual circumstances and busy schedules, rather than relying on a single event at set times that don’t suit everyone. So we are providing several ways for you to engage in the way that works best for you.
If you have any questions about the Strategic Plan, please fill in the form below, or you can book a time to speak directly with CEO Dr Kate More or a member of the team by phone or video call.
- Send us your questions using the form below.
- Book a conversation - Tuesday 28 July - Friday 31 July or Monday 3 August - Friday 7 August
Thank you for your continued support and engagement as we deliver the Strategic Plan: guided by members, for members and for the future of the profession and the sector.
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