Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the health minister. The health committee's report into long COVID concluded that we need national indoor air quality standards to improve the safety of indoor spaces and reduce transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. The government's response last week acknowledged that it did not adopt that recommendation. Minister, I ask you: how do you propose we keep our kids safe at school during the next outbreak of a severe airborne virus?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kooyong for her question, her deep interest before entering this place in public health, obviously, and her advocacy in the different debates that have happened in this building about how we respond to that once-in-a-century pandemic to ensure that we are better prepared next time. As the member has indicated, we have delivered our response to the report made by the health committee, led by the member for Macarthur, through the inquiry into long COVID. A number of recommendations were accepted. Others were noted by the government. I don't have the full response in front of me. There are, obviously, a number of different measures there, and I'll come to the question of clean air very quickly. There are a number of different measures there that are important considerations for Australians who are dealing with long COVID, as it's broadly termed, particularly the longer version of long COVID, if you like, which involves quite complex symptomology for a considerable period of time. We take the view that there are significant opportunities within our existing Medicare system for people to receive care from their general practitioner and from allied health professionals, as there are for other chronic diseases, and we want to see those rolled out along with better education for GPs and allied health professionals about that.

The member's specific question, though, is in relation to clean air. As we enter the back end of the emergency phase of the pandemic it did become clearer that this was an aerosol based coronavirus and that clean air was an important protection against infection. This is an area that involves significant regulation by states—particularly, for example, the regulation of air in schools and public hospital systems. Different actions are being taken by state governments, as the member would be aware. A lively debate or a lively discussion is continuing. I know in a couple of weeks there will be a workshop here in the parliament led by the Australian Academy of Science, the CSIRO and the Burnet Institute to continue the discussion about how we can provide better clean air.

I will say this to the member for Kooyong and others, the Labor Party took to the last election a commitment to deliver a centre for disease control so we can have one place where these debates can be better coordinated, particularly in a federal system where there's very much a split responsibility between the Commonwealth and state governments. I know the member for Kooyong will want to continue to be a part of that discussion.