Mr Mossfield asked the Minister for Family Services, upon notice, on 29 October 1996:

Will a private sector tendering scheme be used to appoint an accreditor for each nursing home and hostel; if so, (a) will this process take several years and (b) what funding authorisation and delivery arrangements will be established in the interim.

Mrs Moylan —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

No decision has been made on the selection process to appoint accreditors to review aged care facilities. A working party of stakeholders is currently considering a broad range of options for the accreditation process. The options include:

   the use of contracted accreditors;

   the use of peers who would undergo training in auditing;

   accreditors employed by the independent agency (either full time, part time or on a casual basis); and

   a mix of the above arrangements.

The working party will respond to me in December. Depending on the final approach taken, appropriate transition and funding arrangements will be established to ensure a smooth change from present arrangements to the new.