More than half of requests for masks, gloves and gowns from aged care providers were rejected as coronavirus swept the country and killed hundreds of nursing home residents.
The Department of Health received 2865 requests for personal protective equipment from the national medical stockpile between March and mid-August.
But only 1324 of the requests from residential and in-home aged care providers were approved.
Labor has accused the federal government of leaving residents and frontline workers vulnerable.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government had managed an extreme global shortage of equipment and a significant spike in demand.
Mr Hunt said he was not aware of any cases where compliant requests were rejected.
"All requests from providers managing a COVID outbreak were approved," he told parliament on Thursday.
"In addition to that, all requests for assistance outside of outbreaks where aged care providers could not source PPE to meet a clinical need, that is to manage some form of outbreak or similar item, were met.
"So 100 per cent of complying requests were met."
The aged care royal commission recently described personal protective equipment shortages in aged care as deplorable.
"Insufficient supplies of PPE and infection control training for the aged care workforce were the subject of evidence in the form of union surveys and accounts," the commission said earlier this month.
"We heard of workers being told they could only use one glove rather than two, and a guideline at a residential aged care facility that only permitted two masks per shift. This is deplorable."
Australian Associated Press
