St Alipius Primary School
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7pm News: On 22 May the 7pm News incorrectly identified the existing St Alipius Primary School in Ballarat as the site of sexual abuse by former priest, Robert Best. The abuse occurred at Christian Brothers St Alipius Primary School, Ballarat East, which closed in 1976.
Great Barrier Reef science
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ABC Rural Queensland: Information in relation to funding and possible conflicts of interest was inadvertently edited from an interview broadcast on Far North Queensland's Rural Report on 24 April. The interview in its entirety has been posted online and listeners were advised about the additional information in a subsequent Rural Report.
Hasham family
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News Budget Special: On May 12 in a package on the reaction of the Hasham family to the federal budget, Mariette Abboud was identified as 'Mary Hasham' mother of Anthony Hasham. While Anthony considers Mary to be like a mother to him and described her as his mother to our reporter, she is not his biological mother.
Vincent Virtue
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News Digital: On May 20, 2015, the ABC published an article entitled "IBAC hearings: Former principal Vincent Virtue knew he was signing off on false invoices, Victorian anti-corruption hearing told." This article concerned, among other things, the evidence of Vincent Virtue at the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission on 19 and 20 May 2015. It has since come to the ABC's attention that certain aspects of this report were inaccurate and the ABC apologise to Mr Virtue for that.
David Martin
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7.30: On Monday May 11, 7.30 incorrectly identified David Martin as a sports psychologist. He is a sports scientist. The transcript has been altered.
Changes to the pension
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The Drum: On Thursday May 7, The Drum program said changes to the pension mooted by the Federal Government would see increases for some in the order of $30 per week. That should be $30 per fortnight.
Healthway
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7pm News: On Monday April 27 the Perth edition of the 7pm News introduced a story on Healthway stating “Labor first wrote to the Auditor General after it was revealed Healthway staff and Board members misused $220,000 worth of tickets". The figure represents the total estimated market value of hospitality provided to Healthway over four years. The Public Sector Commission did not find that that amount had been misused. The report identified various amounts that were not used or were used appropriately as well as benefits which had been used by Healthway officers, their friends and their families.
Max Solutions and Ms Deborah Homewood
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Weekend Breakfast: The April 26, 2015 edition of ABC News 24’s Weekend Breakfast program included discussion about an article published in The Saturday Paper concerning job seekers. As part of the discussion, comments by a guest commentator were aired concerning the company Max Solutions Pty Limited. Max Solutions has advised the ABC that it strongly disagrees with those comments. The ABC now accepts that a number of statements made in the Weekend Breakfast program about Max Solutions were incorrect. If any members of the public understood any comments within the discussion to be referring to Ms Deborah Homewood personally, then the ABC apologises to Ms Homewood.
Gabrielle McMullin
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News Breakfast: On Tuesday March 10, the News ‘ticker’ reported that Dr Gabrielle McMullin "stands by comments female trainees should not report sexual advances". The story referred to an interview the previous evening on 7.30 in which she said that she stood by her criticisms of the surgery profession and its handling of sexual harassment allegations but that her original comments suggesting trainees would be better off if they submitted to sexual advances were ironic and that trainees should fight harassment.
Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus
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ABC Rural: On Tuesday 21 April 2015, a story about the discovery of Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus on a north Queensland watermelon farm incorrectly stated that a Bundaberg based plant nursery had once had the virus on their property. An image of the nursery was published as part of the story. In fact the nursery operation had clearly stated that its own testing had found no trace of the virus. Biosecurity Queensland, while acknowledging it had investigated a number of Queensland nurseries when the virus was first found in the Northern Territory, has not identified any Queensland nurseries with the virus. The story has been corrected, and an editor's note included to explain the changes.
Cyclone Marcia wind speeds
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RN: On February 25, RN Afternoons reported winds speeds of up to 285km/h in Rockhampton during Cyclone Marcia. This was based on forecasts of a category 5 cyclone. Actual recorded maximum wind speeds in the area ranged from 113km/h in Rockhampton to 205km/h just north of the city.
Relationship with step-sister
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triple j: On Thursday April 16, triple j Hack interviewed 'Alex' who said he was in a long-term relationship with his step-sister 'J'. Excerpts from the interview were also used in Hack's online blog post. On finding that 'Alex' fabricated his story, the program clarified and apologised on air on Monday April 20 and the blog post has been taken down.
Cosmetic surgery
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Background Briefing, RN: On 12 April Background Briefing aired a documentary about the dangers of cosmetic surgery and the lack of regulation around the industry, which doesn’t require specialist surgical training. Within the story there was reference to the death of a young woman, Lauren James in Melbourne in 2007 who died 3 days after undergoing liposuction, a straight forward cosmetic surgery procedure. The case was referred to in relation to the laws around Australia making it difficult to sue doctors, including cosmetic surgeons. The story didn’t make it clear that the surgeon in this case was a fully qualified (specialist) plastic surgeon. An editor’s note clarifying this was posted on the Background Briefing story page on 15 April and at the relevant point in the transcript, where a hyperlink to the coroner’s findings in the case was also added.
Daily Mail
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Media Watch, ABC: On 23 March, Media Watch criticised the Australian online edition of the Daily Mail for its coverage of Malcolm Fraser's death. It took aim at the prominence given to a story about the night the former prime minister lost his pants in a Memphis Hotel, suggesting more significant aspects of his life had been ignored. The program should have made it clear that the Daily Mail had already covered Mr Fraser's political legacy in an obituary published within minutes of confirmation of his death. Media Watch set the record straight in its 30 March episode.
MyBudget
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7.30: In response to a complaint about a story titled 'The businesses cashing-in on people under financial stress', on March 12 2015 the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found 7.30 to be in breach of standard 5.3 of the ABC Code of Practice. ACMA concluded that MyBudget was not given a fair opportunity to respond to specific claims made by two former customers who appeared in the story. 7.30 acknowledges the ACMA finding.
Hormones in meat
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triple j: During his regular Thursday segment on triple j on 12 February Dr Karl told a listener that there had been "no hormones in any meats in Australia for half a century". This is true for poultry and dairy cattle, but not for beef cattle. Dr Karl apologized and corrected this information on air on Thursday 26 February.
Ian Macdonald
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7pm TV News: On 30 October 2013, ABC 7pm news carried a story on ICAC recommendations for reform of the regulation of coal mining licences in NSW. In the course of that story it was said that former NSW Resources Minister Ian Macdonald made millions from mining deals.
That is not correct and there has been no finding that Mr Macdonald made any personal profit from mining deals. The ABC apologises for the error.
Totten Glacier
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News Online: On 26 January, a story about the melting of the Totten Glacier incorrectly stated that the glacier is twice the size of Victoria. This was incorrect. The glacier drains an area of Antarctica approximately twice the size of Victoria. The reference has been removed.
Plane crash
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News Online: On 27 January, a story about a fatal plane crash off south-east Tasmania during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race story stated that the ATSB’s initial investigation report found that the crash was not caused by mechanical failure. This was not correct, the report stated that initial inspection had not identified any mechanical failures that contributed to the accident. The story has been corrected.
SA council amalgamations
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News Online: On 19 January, a story about council amalgamations in South Australia stated incorrectly that after amalgamations there were 34 local councils in Victoria. The sentence has been deleted.
Hendra vaccination
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ABC Rural: On January 14, in a story about the death of a horse after receiving a Hendra vaccination, the ABC incorrectly reported that vet, Dr Christine Perry, said “thrombocytopenia could have been caused by a number of factors, including even a snake bite or rodenticide consumption, rather than a reaction to the Hendra vaccine.” In fact, Dr Perry said that snake bite and rodenticide consumption and two other causes had been ruled out.
Nicholson Museum
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News24: On January 11, in a piece about allegations of stolen art being purchased by the National Gallery of Australia, the ABC incorrectly showed footage of the interior of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney. The ABC apologises for this error.
Anit-vaccination lobby
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7.30: On January 5, in a story about the impact of the American anit-vaccination lobby and outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease in the United States, the ABC interviewed James Maskell but did not mention he is an anti-vaccine campaigner.
Crime and Corruption Commission
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612 ABC Brisbane Mornings: On October 10, in an interview with Dr Bruce Flegg MP after he was cleared of allegations investigated by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC). The ABC failed to clarify the powers of the CCC and its predecessor the Crime and Misconduct Commission.
Sheikh Omar El Banna
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7.30: On May 30, we featured a story on Australian men travelling to Syria to fight with rebel forces in that country’s civil war. During that story we referred to a number of Australian Muslim clerics, including Sheikh Omar El Banna. We wish to clarify that it was not our intention to imply that Sheikh El Banna advocated or endorsed Australians travelling to Syria to fight and we apologise if anyone understood the story to suggest otherwise.
