Another insight from Tuesday’s Senate hearing into the Government’s COVID response.

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, was questioned closely on the makeup of her organisation’s workforce – the suggestion being that the regulator doesn’t have the staff it needs to ensure aged care and home care providers are toeing the line.

Ms Anderson revealed that as of 31 August 2020, the ACQSC has 657.33 full-time equivalent staff – but 27% of these staff were contractors.

In total, $27 million of the regulator’s $50 million staffing budget goes on temporary contract services.

The enquiry’s Chair, Labor Senator Katy Gallagher, questioned how this figure could be so high.

The Commissioner was defensive of the figures, saying that her organisation needs a range of expertise which can be difficult to find.

The ACQSC must also fit under the staffing cap determined by the Government on a portfolio basis, which is currently set at 533 for 2021 – implying that the Commission has too many staff on its books.

At the recent Royal Commission home care hearings, Ms Anderson revealed that she had recently established a recruitment branch to drive staffing amid high staff turnover and the retirement of experienced quality assessors.

You have to ask: is the culture of the organisation to blame?

Consider this too: 657 staff work out as one staff member for every four aged care homes in Australia.

Is the Commission really so under-staffed then?