Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Senator Colbeck. Does the government collect data on how many shifts in aged care in Australia are going unfilled each week? If yes, what is that number?

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

No, the government doesn't collect individual facility shift data. I don't think that is a level of detail that we should go to. As I have indicated to the chamber recently, we have done some calculations of the number of shifts that we believe might not be being filled based on the number of staff that have had COVID. Based on some information as of 4 February, for affected facilities we believe the accumulative infection rate is nearly 13 per cent of the workforce on average and just over five per cent concurrently. That relates to the impact on facilities of COVID-19 and therefore the shifts that are being held, particularly in relation to COVID.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Walsh, a supplementary question?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Peak body Australian Aged Care Collaboration found up to 140,000 shifts were not being filled each week. Can the minister confirm that at best the surge workforce is filling 0.7 per cent, less than one per cent, of unfilled aged-care shifts each week?

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

The surge workforce was not designed to fill every unfilled shift in aged care during COVID. It wasn't designed to do that. The advice that the government provided to aged-care providers right at the beginning of the pandemic was that they would be required to have some capacity themselves to manage vacancies and shift—

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, on a point of order?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance: the question was a factual one and went to the percentage of unfilled shifts that the surge workforce is filling. That was the question. It wasn't about the policy rationale or anything else like that. We'd just like a factual answer to that factual question.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the point of order, Mr President, as you have ruled and your predecessors have ruled regularly, it is not for the chair to determine precisely how a question should be answered; it's for the chair to uphold the standing orders in terms of the direct relevance of an answer, and, of course, that direct relevance can go to type of policy considerations and other things Senator Watt has said would not be relevant. It is not the case that just because a question asks for a particular number that other relevant policy and issues associated with such data or facts would not also be directly relevant. Clearly, they would be.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've been listening to the minister's answer. I believe he was being directly relevant to the question. The minister has 39 seconds remaining. I call the minister.

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

As I said, it does relate specifically to the question, because the inference is that the surge workforce should fill all shifts that aren't being filled and that is not what the surge workforce was designed to fill. In the advice to the sector provided early in the pandemic, providers themselves were required to have capacity to fill a certain proportion of shifts themselves. We have said where that capacity became overwhelmed we would come in and support them with the surge workforce, and that's what we've done. That's what we have done, and we've continued to build the surge workforce to assist the sector to manage COVID-19 and their workforce shortages.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Walsh, a second supplementary?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When 140,000 shift in aged care are going unfilled, does the minister think providing 1,000 shifts is him performing exceptionally well? When this minister continues to refuse to accept the aged-care sector he is responsible for is in crisis, something even Mr Morrison has accepted, when will he resign?

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

LBECK (—) (): I thank you, but what a completely incoherent question! Again, Labor is dishonestly taking out of context comments that I made about the performance of the sector versus the circumstance with respect to the filling of shifts through the surge workforce. As I said in my previous answer, the surge workforce was not designed, never was designed, to fill every vacant shift in residential aged care during COVID. It was there to provide assistance to providers who weren't able to fill specific shifts in certain circumstances of extreme need. That's what we've done. Over 18,000 shifts we've provided support for. We've continued to build that capacity as we've been able to and put additional resources towards it, and we will continue to support the sector as they work their way through the pandemic.