Senator COLBECK (Tasmania—Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians and Minister for Youth and Sport) (14:18): As I indicated to the chamber yesterday, the government currently doesn't procure directly any assessment service in the aged-care sector. It subcontracts to state governments for ACAT services, and it contracts to other providers—I think about 17 other providers—for the provision of regional assessment services. What the government has said it intends to do is to create a single assessment workforce. That is exactly what we intend to do. I have never conceded that the government's intention is to privatise, as the opposition continue to claim, because that has never been our intention. Senator Wong: You said the tender's open to the private sector. Senator COLBECK: Senator Wong obviously didn't hear what I just said. The private sector actually already provides some of those services right now. We don't procure any services directly ourselves. I have also said, as a part of this process, that we need to bring the workforce together as one. That is an objective of the government, and it was also a recommendation of the Tune review to bring together a single workforce. That is the government's determination. That is what we intend to do. We need to reform the way that ACAT services and RAS are delivered, because there are currently duplications in the system and there are too many waiting for too long for a state based aged-care assessment. In fact, as at 31 December last year, 591 people had waited for over 75 days for a state based ACAT assessment. The PRESIDENT: Senator Keneally, a supplementary question?