Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are those opposite who support this motion, but we haven't seen credible debate coming from others in the opposition who have been through the data and the science. Instead we see the usual conspiracy theorists trying to attach a headline critique to what is actually very robustly unpacked by the ABS if you drill down into their explanations, and the explanations of others, into why we have some variations in our mortality data. So I would encourage those opposite, if they want to get in deep, to say, 'Let's make sure we are referring to the evidence and the data, and look at what's real.' I would have expected a little more from you in your speeches in terms of actually looking at said ABS data.

What we know is that the Department of Health and Aged Care has an ongoing and continuous job to closely monitor patterns of death using the ABS data. It is validated mortality data. They also look through other provisional sources, including the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, the Therapeutic Goods Administration's Database of Adverse Event Notifications and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's National Mortality Database.

Before I go on and unpack some of the detail behind some of the trends in the mortality data that we have as a nation, I do want to reflect on Senator Roberts's remarks where he impugned the chair of the community affairs committee, suggesting that the chair had suspended the committee's estimates hearing in order to prevent evidence coming out. I was there that evening, and senators were disrespectful to the chair and witnesses. They were speaking over the chair, and the suspension of the hearing took place in order to restore order and for no other reason. I remind you—through you, Acting Deputy President Fawcett—that, in our estimates committees, just because you don't like the answer to a question you have asked or you disagree with it is not an excuse to create disorder in the hearing. I note that we have been called upon by the Jenkins review to ensure that we have a respectful workplace, and it was very hard work that afternoon, during that session of questioning.

Anyway, I will now drill down into the data. Indeed, ABS data does show that there was excess mortality in 2021. But if you drill down and look at the explanations for it, they are actually very reasonable. The overall age-standardised mortality rate for 2021 was in fact the second lowest since 2015. Logically, that would show that we need to adjust for age demographics—how many people of a certain age, how many people have certain conditions—in order to get a true reflection. You can't just say, 'Well, more people died this year than any other' without accounting for the age and health for all of those people.

We know that the age-standardised mortality rates are an important comparative measure, as they take into account the fact that we have an ageing population in Australia. The more recent ABS reports show a higher number of deaths than the baseline in 2021 and 2022. However, data released in February this year shows that in the later part of 2022 there was a notable drop in excess deaths. A recent study comparing Australia with the other OECD countries shows that excess deaths in Australia were among the lowest in 2020 and 2021.