Senator Chris Evans asked the Minister representing the Minister for Aged Care, upon notice, on 16 March 1999:

(1) (a) What information does the department or Standards Accreditation Agency have on the number of qualified nursing staff employed by providers; and (b) how many qualified nursing staff are employed in each planning region, indicating whether they are registered or enrolled nursing staff.

(2) For each rural and remote region what is the ratio of qualified nursing staff to aged care residents.

(3) What is the average ratio of qualified nursing staff to aged care residents in metropolitan regions.

Senator Herron (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs) —The Minister for Aged Care has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) (a) Service providers must be able to demonstrate that they are employing an adequate number of appropriately skilled staff to the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency during the course of an accreditation audit.

(b) The Department does not collect separate information.

(2) See (1) (b)

(3) See (1) (b)