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Both the United States and the United Kingdom have asked Australia to send personnel to West Africa to help combat the deadly Ebola virus, foreign affairs officials have told a Senate hearing.
Under questioning from Labor and Greens senators on Thursday, Blair Exell, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade first assistant secretary, confirmed the UK had requested Australia send personnel to Sierra Leone, while the US had asked for personnel to support efforts in Liberia.
Mr Exell said the British request was in the form of a letter from the British High Commissioner to Australia, Paul Madden, to Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop in late September.
Mr Exell said the US had requested Australia send personnel to Liberia in meetings with the Australian Embassy in Washington around October 1.
Sierra Leone and Liberia have also made direct requests to Australia for medical teams.
The revelations add to the pressure already being applied to the Abbott government by Labor, the Greens, health and aid groups for it to send doctors, nurses and other skilled workers to West Africa to support international efforts to control the outbreak, which has already claimed almost 5000 lives.
So far, Australia's contribution has been limited to a financial one with $18 million in funding. While the funds has been welcomed by the United Nations, aid groups have urged Australia to reinforce its monetary support by deploying medical, technical and logistical personnel to help tackle the outbreak at its source.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has resisted these calls, arguing that it would be irresponsible to deploy Australian personnel without a guarantee that they would receive adequate treatment should they contract the virus.
Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, said on Thursday it was "very significant" that Australia had not met the US and UK requests for personnel.
"These are two of our most important allies. They are bearing a huge share of the responsibility of fighting Ebola in West Africa," she told ABC TV.
"We've now got a situation where the president of the United States is ringing the Prime Minister of Australia. The Prime Minister of the UK has spoken to our Foreign Minister and still the Australian government is not making arrangements to support Australian personnel who are trained, who are willing, who are able to fight Ebola in West Africa."
The government says it has been negotiating with the US, Britain and European nations for a guarantee that any Australian personnel who is infected with the virus would receive treatment, either in the US, Europe or in West Africa, but it has been unable to secure such an agreement.
But the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Peter Varghese, said there had been progress in talks in recent days.
"We have had indications that there might be access available, but the details of that access is something which we still have to work through," Mr Varghese told the committee.
