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

It is very unfortunate that some people receive letters, and I myself have had communication with some of those families that have received a letter offering a home-care package or about a home-care package—in some circumstances it's to inquire whether people intend to take up their allocated home-care package—after a person has passed away. But, unfortunately, the responsibility for notification of deaths goes through state systems, and sometimes it takes some time for those notifications to pass through to the Commonwealth. So this is not, as the opposition might like to try to portray, some sort of blame-shifting exercise.