1 A paralysis in public health policy: water fluoridation in Queensland (1996-2006).

one of Australia’s public health inconsistencies, the comparatively low adoption of adjusted water fluoridation in Queensland. In Queensland, parliamentary support for water fluoridation is conditional on community approval. Political ambivalence and the constraints of the “Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act (1963) ” Qld have hindered the advocacy of water fluoridation. The political circumstance surrounding the “Lord Mayor’s Taskforce on Fluoridation Report ” (1997) influenced its findings and confirms that Australia’s biggest local authority, the Brisbane City Council, failed to authoritatively analyse water fluoridation. In 2004, a private member’s bill to mandate fluoridation failed in a spectacular fashion. In 2005, an official systems review of Queensland Health recommended public debate about water fluoridation. Our principal conclusion is that without mandatory legislation, widespread implementation of water fluoridation in Queensland is most unlikely. Within the last decade, several political developments have focused on Queensland’s low adoption of adjusted water fluoridation. As a consequence, Queensland Health (QH), the Australian Dental Association Queensland Branch (ADAQ) and other professional bodie