Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Last week, the Minister for Health and Aged Care said that the government's COVIDSafe app had played an important role in contact tracing. But, according to the Canberra Times, a report was handed to the minister in March this year which said that the app had provided little assistance to the health response between March and November 2020, and increased the workload of contact tracers for little reward. Is that true?

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

The COVIDSafe app has 7.6 million Australians registered to use it. From the 779 COVID-positive users that have had uploads, the app recorded 1.65 million digital handshakes and 2,827 potential close contacts. In particular, we know that in the case of New South Wales and in the example of the outbreak at the Mounties we had clear identification of cases which had otherwise not been notified. They were positive cases and it allowed for tracking and tracing, which allowed for the specific outcomes. It meant that that outbreak was able to be contained.

So what we see is that this is one tool that is available to states and territories. We continue to encourage all of them to use it. We believe, as we've seen in the United Kingdom, for example, that it has significant potential here. But, most importantly, those examples show its capacity and its impact.