Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the notice that Senator Ruston gave. On the issue at hand, the department has provided the advice that 358 questions in writing and on notice from the estimates hearing held in October 2022, for those questions that were provided on time, the Department of Health and Aged Care provided on-time responses to 94 per cent of questions received.

I can advise the Senate that although it's a different number to the one Senator Ruston just used, approximately 20 questions in writing arising from November estimates are outstanding, and the department advises it's expected that these will be tabled by the end of the week. The Department of Health and Aged Care has already received approximately 905 questions in writing from those hearings, of which 300 come from one senator alone. So, there are a lot of questions that the department of health are trying to answer in the relevant time frame. There are no questions awaiting clearance through the minister's office; they've all been cleared. We're just waiting to get those outstanding ones from the department of health.