Water fluoridation
Approximately 72% of Queenslanders receive fluoridated drinking water.
Legislation and regulation
Fluoridation in Queensland is regulated under the Water Fluoridation Act 2008 and Water Fluoridation Regulation 2020.
Under the Water Fluoridation Act 2008 each local government in Queensland is able to make the decision whether or not the town water supplies within their area are fluoridated.
Read frequently asked questions to help local governments (PDF 107 kB) make decisions about how fluoridation is implemented in their local government area.
Where there is a single water supplier for multiple local government areas (e.g. in South East Queensland), each individual local government must take account of the impact of their decision on other local governments serviced by that water supplier.
Safe operation of water fluoridation infrastructure
The design and operation of infrastructure for adding fluoride to drinking water supplies is described in the Queensland Water Fluoridation Code of Practice (PDF 752 kB). The Water Fluoridation Regulation 2020 and the Code of Practice include a wide range of safeguards to ensure that fluoride is safely added to water supplies.
The forms below are to assist water providers to comply with their obligations under the Water Fluoridation Regulation 2020 and Code of Practice.
- Form 1 Notice — Fluoridation Decision (PDF 389 kB)
- Form 2 Notice — Period of Non-Operation Automatic Fluoride Dosing Equipment or Water Blending Equipment (PDF 465 kB)
- Form 3 Notice — Resumption of Operation of Automatic Fluoride Dosing Equipment or Water Blending Equipment (PDF 457 kB)
- Form 4A — Daily Record Sheet – Dry Feed (PDF 490 kB)
- Form 4B — Daily Record Sheet - Acid Feed (PDF 536 kB)
- Form 4C — Daily Record Sheet – Solution Feed (PDF 503 kB)
- Form 4D — Daily Record Sheet – Saturator Feed (PDF 439 kB)
- Form 5 Notice — Fluoridated Water Quarterly Report (PDF 452 kB)
Levels
The amount of fluoride that can be added to drinking water in Queensland is set in the Water Fluoridation Regulation 2020 and ranges from 0.6 parts per million (ppm) to 0.8 ppm, depending on location. This is equivalent to less than one drop of fluoride diluted into 50 litres of water.
Monitoring
The amount of fluoride added to water supplies in Queensland must be checked daily by the water supplier and reported to the Department of Health on a regular basis.
Fluoride and oral health
Water fluoridation helps protect teeth against decay. Adding fluoride to drinking water is the cheapest and most effective way of providing oral health benefits to the entire community.
Read more about fluoridation and oral health.