Health

• Fact check: Have bulk billing rates increased under the Coalition? Fact Check

  

  Posted May 27, 2016 06:27:21 | Updated May 27, 2016 16:41:00

  Labor have promised to protect bulk billing by removing a freeze on Medicare rebates paid to doctors.

  The Coalition defended the freeze by saying that bulk billing rates have increased while they have been in office.

  Have bulk billing rates increased under the Coalition? ABC Fact Check takes a look.

  Topics: federal-elections, health, health-policy, liberals, australia

• Fact check: Has the Government cut billions out of public hospitals? Fact Check

  

  Posted May 19, 2016 17:15:59 | Updated May 19, 2016 17:30:19

  Labor has used the second week of the election campaign to highlight the Government's record on health spending.

  Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King said the Liberals had been "a disaster when it comes to health".

  "They have cut billions out of public hospitals," she told ABC radio.

  ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: health-policy, healthcare-facilities, federal-elections, alp, australia

• Fact check: Has the Coalition taken billions of dollars from hospitals and not put it back? Fact Check

  

  Posted April 08, 2016 06:30:57 | Updated April 08, 2016 10:07:10

  The Turnbull Government recently agreed with the governments of the states and territories on a $2.9 billion increase in hospital funding over three years from July 2017.

  Some leaders say this does not go far enough to "return" funding that was taken away in the 2014 federal budget.

  But was the higher funding level ever realistic? ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: health-policy, budget, alp, australia

• Fact check: Is Labor's increased tobacco excise a 'workers tax'? Fact Check

  

  Posted March 31, 2016 07:18:33 | Updated June 29, 2016 10:33:52

  In a speech to Liberal party members, former prime minister Tony Abbott labelled planned increases to tobacco excise tax as a "workers tax" that slugs smokers.

  ABC Fact Check has taken a look at the statistics of who smokes to work out whether an increase to excise can properly be described as a tax on workers.

  Topics: tobacco, smoking, tax, liberals, abbott-tony, australia

• Fact check: Do world class cities lack lockout laws? Fact Check

  

  Posted March 16, 2016 06:42:59 | Updated March 16, 2016 09:17:55

  Governments around Australia have sought to respond to reports of alcohol-fuelled violence by imposing restrictions on patrons and venues.

  In NSW, the suite of measures known as the 'lockout laws' has been controversial and attracted both praise and loud opposition.

  It has been argued that no other international city has the type of restrictions that Sydney has.

  ABC Fact Check takes a closer look.

  Topics: alcohol, community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, sydney-2000, brisbane-4000, nsw, fortitude-valley-4006, kings-cross-2011, darlinghurst-2010

• Fact Check: Is Labor's schools policy fully funded? Fact Check

  

  Posted March 01, 2016 07:12:23 | Updated April 18, 2016 11:59:59

  In January, the Federal Opposition announced a 10-year, $37.3 billion education plan.

  Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen says that the Opposition has "fully provisioned" for the costs of the plan, based on already announced savings including increased taxes on corporations, superannuation and tobacco.

  But how realistic are these savings? And how reliable are 10-year budget projections? ABC Fact Check takes a closer look.

  Topics: budget, education, bill-shorten, schools, superannuation, smoking, tax, alp, australia

• Fact check: If diabetes were a country how big would it be? Fact Check

  

  Posted October 19, 2015 14:11:43 | Updated October 27, 2015 12:26:29

  Federal Assistant Minister for Health Ken Wyatt says diabetes is a growing and global issue.

  "If I could just give you one stat: if diabetes was a country it would be the fifth largest country in the world. That's how many people across the globe are affected and so there is much work we've got to do," he said.

  So just how many people around the world have diabetes? ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: health, diet-and-nutrition, health-policy, diabetes, liberals, australia

• Fact check: Do many more people die by suicide than in road accidents? Fact Check

  

  Posted October 08, 2015 06:44:12 | Updated October 09, 2015 11:39:31

  Lifeline Australia chairman John Brogden recently called for suicide to be declared a national emergency.

  "The number of suicides has increased by 20 per cent over the past 10 years," he said.

  "Over the same period, the number of motor vehicle deaths has reduced by 25 per cent to 1,200 each year - less than half the number of deaths by suicide."

  ABC Fact Check takes a look at the numbers.

  Topics: mental-health, mens-health, womens-health, road, australia

• Fact check: Is there 'no or very little' link between alcohol advertising and underage drinking? Fact Check

  

  Posted October 02, 2015 11:23:28 | Updated October 12, 2015 10:44:31

  Recent research shows children are exposed to thousands of alcohol advertisements during sport broadcasts.

  But the chief executive of the Brewers Association of Australia and New Zealand, Denita Wawn, says there's "no or very little" link between alcohol advertising and alcohol misuse, including underage drinking.

  ABC Fact Check looks at whether there's a link between alcohol advertising and underage drinking.

  Topics: health, adolescent-health, child-health-and-behaviour, australia

• Fact check: Do higher food star ratings always mean a healthier choice? Fact Check

  

  Posted September 08, 2015 07:57:19 | Updated September 10, 2015 11:47:55

  The Federal Government's health star rating system is appearing on more and more food products on supermarket shelves.

  The slogan is: "The more stars, the healthier the choice."

  But just how useful is the star system in making healthier food choices, and do more stars mean a healthier choice? ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: health, health-policy, food-and-beverage, australia

• Fact check: Are staff working in detention centres protected by whistleblower laws if they speak out? Fact Check

  

  Posted August 03, 2015 10:06:51 | Updated March 02, 2016 17:08:52

  Labor says it's critical that staff employed in immigration detention facilities are free to speak out when they see something wrong.

  But at the same time the party voted for a bill making it a criminal offences for detention centre employees to speak to the media. Labor argues existing whistleblower laws will protect staff, should they speak out on issues of abuse or misconduct.

  ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: immigration, federal-government, alp, health-policy, healthcare-facilities

• Fact or fiction: A mother and father is better than same-sex parents Fact Check

  

  Posted July 24, 2015 10:06:58 | Updated August 21, 2015 13:06:10

  Riding the momentum of the Irish referendum and United States supreme court ruling legalising same-sex marriage, there are expectations Australian legislators will change the Marriage Act.

  But opponents of of the change argue that children benefit from having a mother and a father and that same-sex marriage should not be legalised.

  ABC Fact Check investigates whether children do best with heterosexual parents.

  Topics: discrimination, children, divorce, family, marriage, parenting, gays-and-lesbians, sexuality, federal-government, social-policy, child-health-and-behaviour, family-law, australia

• Fact check: Does infrasound from wind farms make people sick? Fact Check

  

  Posted July 17, 2015 09:17:40 | Updated March 03, 2016 11:30:18

  A recent decision to stop the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from funding any new wind power projects isn't the Abbott Government's first move against the wind industry.

  Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm has been a vocal opponent. He claims inappropriate levels of infrasound, regardless of the sources, cause adverse health impacts.

  ABC Fact Check investigates some of the claims made by Senator Lleyonhelm.

  Topics: wind-energy, alternative-energy, environmental-impact, environmental-health, australia

• Fact Check: Are millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted on poorly performing IVF clinics? Fact Check

  

  Posted June 26, 2015 12:57:52 | Updated June 26, 2015 13:01:08

  For over 30 years, the Australian fertility industry has collected detailed data on the outcomes of fertility treatments, but this data is never released to the public.

  A leading IVF expert claims this is costing the government millions of dollars worth of extra Medicare rebates.

  ABC Fact Check takes a look at the facts around IVF success rates and whether they can be used to make comparisons.

  Topics: reproduction-and-contraception, fertility-and-infertility, womens-health, science-and-technology, australia

• Fact check: How much is subsidising cheap paracetamol costing the government? Fact Check

  

  Posted May 08, 2015 14:31:40 | Updated May 13, 2015 10:40:47

  One area of spending the Federal Government has earmarked for savings in the 2015 budget is pharmaceutical subsidies.

  Health Minister Sussan Ley says subsidising paracetamol that can be bought without a prescription at 'the supermarket and corner stores for around $2' is costing the government $73 million a year.

  ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: health-policy, pharmaceuticals, australia

• Fact file: The rise of ice and the changing face of Australian drug use

  

  Posted April 10, 2015 10:08:27

  Crystal methamphetamine, known more commonly as ice, has emerged as a growing problem in the community.

  Most recently the Prime Minister has announced a taskforce to combat ice use, and there have been revelations the drug could be responsible for the suicide deaths of sailors in Western Australia.

  But where does ice fit with Australian drug habits?

  ABC Fact Check takes a look at drug use.

  Topics: drug-use, drug-offences, australia

• Fact check: Are 80,000 Victorians using ice? Fact Check

  

  Posted April 07, 2015 10:46:35

  A huge spike in the availability and use of the drug ice is causing alarm across the country.

  The Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced $46 million in new funding to treat and rehabilitate ice addicts.

  He says recent data shows about 80,000 Victorians used ice in 2013.

  ABC Fact Check takes a look at ice usage rates.

  Topics: drug-use, vic

• Fact check: Did the Coalition Government cut $3b from the NSW health budget? Fact Check

  

  Posted March 26, 2015 17:35:47 | Updated March 03, 2016 15:56:41

  NSW Labor is seeking to make health a central issue in the state election.

  Opposition Leader Luke Foley has announced new nurse-to-patient ratios, and attacked the Baird Government's record on health funding.

  Mr Foley says the Government has cut $3 billion from the health budget. ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: government-and-politics, elections, health, alp, nsw

• Fact file: Meat that glows in the dark (and 10 other things you might not know about food)

  

  Posted March 11, 2015 09:29:25 | Updated March 11, 2015 12:11:34

  The old saying goes, 'you are what you eat' but how much do you really know about food, and the effect it has on your body?

  It can be hard to sift through the myriad conflicting advice about nutrition and healthy eating, and research shows that Australians are fatter than ever before.

  ABC Fact Check takes a look at food and nutrition.

  Topics: diet-and-nutrition, health, australia

• Fact file: The AIDS problem in Papua New Guinea

  

  Posted December 11, 2014 09:27:38 | Updated December 12, 2014 18:31:22

  Papua New Guinea, Australia's closest neighbour, is dealing with an HIV/AIDS epidemic. A high incidence of sexual aggression, violence against women, the impact of alcohol and drugs on sexual behaviour and commercial sex are just some of the reasons for the level of HIV infection in the country.

  Topics: health, aids-and-hiv, diseases-and-disorders, relief-and-aid-organisations, federal-government, papua-new-guinea, australia

• Fact check: Are Victorians waiting longer than ever for ambulances to arrive? Fact Check

  

  Posted November 24, 2014 17:20:45 | Updated November 25, 2014 11:40:54

  Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews has put health policy at the centre of Labor's election campaign.

  Mr Andrews has singled out ambulance response times as a problem, saying they "have never been longer".

  ABC Fact Check takes a look at ambulance response times in Victoria.

  Topics: states-and-territories, government-and-politics, doctors-and-medical-professionals, health, elections, advertising, alp, vic

• Fact check: Health Minister misleading on Red Cross Ebola funding Fact Check

  

  Posted October 22, 2014 16:51:30 | Updated October 29, 2014 11:09:03

  Australian humanitarian agencies have called on the Federal Government to "immediately increase support" to contain the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

  Health Minister Peter Dutton has repeatedly said the Government has provided $18 million to NGOs like the Red Cross to support their Ebola response.

  ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: diseases-and-disorders, health, world-politics, government-and-politics, liberals, relief-and-aid-organisations, australia

• Fact check: Does a farmer die by suicide every four days in Australia? Fact Check

  

  Posted October 16, 2014 14:22:59 | Updated October 24, 2014 12:57:38

  Australian agriculture is "closing down" and farmers - "the toughest people this nation has ever produced" - are folding, federal MP Bob Katter says.

  As a result a farmer is "committing suicide every four days in this country", Mr Katter told the ABC's Q&A program.

  Can that statistic be right? ABC Fact Check examines the latest research on suicide in farming communities.

  Topics: suicide, rural, regional, mental-health, federal-government, government-and-politics, minor-parties, bob-katter, australia

• Fact check: Science, research and innovation spending cut to 'historic low' Fact Check

  

  Posted October 07, 2014 13:22:08 | Updated October 07, 2014 14:56:04

  Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt says the Federal Government has cut spending on science, research and innovation to an "historic low".

  ABC Fact Check finds his claim checks out.

  It's estimated research and development spending will be 0.56 per cent of GDP in 2014-15, which is the lowest level in decades.

  Topics: research, medical-research, government-and-politics, federal-government, political-parties, greens, australia

• Fact check: Health Minister Peter Dutton's dementia facts flawed Fact Check

  

  Posted September 13, 2014 14:00:00 | Updated September 15, 2014 11:38:10

  Australia needs to be able to pay for "the fact that 170 people per week today are being diagnosed with dementia, but in a number of years it'll be 7,500 a week", Health Minister Peter Dutton says.

  It's well recognised that the number of people with dementia is growing, but could the number being diagnosed really increase fortyfold in a number of years?

  ABC Fact Check investigates.

  Topics: federal-government, liberals, diseases-and-disorders, alzheimers-and-dementia, health, australia