Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again addressed to the Prime Minister. I ask: is it true that the government undertook no audit of aged-care providers to ensure they had adequate stocks of PPE, despite more than 1,300 requests for access to the National Medical Stockpile by May?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No. That's not the advice that I have. The advice is that we've had multiple engagements with aged-care providers—all aged-care providers—around the country in COVID preparation. There have been six stages to this national plan in relation to the aged-care facilities.

The first stage began in January with the appropriate advice to all facilities, at a time before even the first border was closed. We closed the borders to China for a reason: to protect those in aged-care facilities. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has been in contact and surveyed all aged-care facilities in Australia, not just once but on more than one occasion—on multiple occasions. That's a very important element. In terms of masks and PPE, we have provided facilities across Australia with over 12 million masks and PPE. The advice that I have is where there are requests they are acted upon quickly and expeditiously.

The second of the stages was in February, when the Australian pandemic response plan was released. That includes a very strong focus on aged care. Then, on 13 March, stage 3, the CDNA plan for all of Australia, the aged-care national response plan, was released. It went through in extensive detail the PPE. Throughout that time there have been multiple engagements with the national medical survey—

Opposition Member:

An opposition member interjecting—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No. All facilities in Australia have been contacted through the course of the pandemic by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in order to ensure their preparedness. The fourth phase was the provision of workforce support, and the fifth and sixth phases were the updating of the national plan on the basis of international experience and domestic experience.

All of those have occurred, including 12 million masks right across the country to aged-care facilities, of which almost 10 million have gone specifically to Victoria. That's included the mandating of masks in Victoria and has included the offer and the ability to provide services where they are required around the country.