Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for the question. I'll have to take that question on notice. It may very well be that there's some delay in data being transmitted between agencies. For example, we know in Victoria that the deaths due to COVID are reported into their public health emergency system, or PHESS, which is where we use our death data and report our death data for COVID deaths. That is then transmitted across to their database for births, deaths and marriages, and there is sometimes a period of cleansing required to certify whether or not a death has been caused by COVID, for example. I will undertake to get some information on that, but I suggest that that may be part of what's occurring, because there has been some movement up and down in the reporting of deaths over the last 18 months or so. I've had some experience with that, particularly in relation to COVID as deaths are recertified. In fact, in the last few days, I had the number of deaths from COVID in aged care reduced because somebody who was thought to have passed away actually hadn't. So there are some issues with respect to reporting and translating that information through the system. I'm happy to take that on notice and report back to the chamber.