Corrections & Clarifications

News: On December 8 2017, ABC News Digital published a story comparing individual tax rates with company tax rates released by the ATO. The story was based on an erroneous calculation of individual tax rates and has since been withdrawn.

Media Watch: On 6 November 2017, Media Watch broadcast a segment titled Deadly Treadlies which focused on an article written by Miranda Devine suggesting that bike share schemes posed a terror threat. The segment made reference to the qualifications of Mr Daniel Lewkovitz of Calamity Monitoring. The ABC has since been contacted by Mr Lewkovitz who told the ABC he has provided terrorism-related training to NSW police, the security industry and hundreds of other high-risk private sector groups and individuals. The ABC apologises for suggesting that Mr Lewkovitz did not appear to have such expertise.

ABC NEWS channel: On 17 November 2017, the news ticker stated “Oldest human remains ever found have been returned home to Mungo National Park ”. The ABC wishes to clarify this statement was not correct. The ticker should have stated the remains were the oldest ever discovered in Australia.

ABC NEWS channel: On 18 November 2017, during the 11AM (AEST) bulletin ABC NEWS Channel broadcast a story detailing the progress of the 2017 Queensland Election campaign. The report stated the Carmichael coal mine would create thousands of jobs. The update should have made clear that is an estimate by Adani, the company proposing the mine, and is widely disputed.

News: On 18 November 2017, ABC News published an article about an ANU study that found plants release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than was previously thought. The ABC acknowledges the story unintentionally suggested that plants release through respiration more CO2 than humans and did not represent the research findings in an accurate context. The story was later amended to emphasise that plants are a net carbon sink and they absorb more carbon dioxide than they emit.

News (Tasmania): On 14 November 2017, the 7pm news aired a story about a claim of historical sex abuse involving the Friends School. The claim was investigated by Tasmania Police following a referral by the Royal Commission. During the course of that story, an image of Carroll James was incorrectly shown as part of the story. The ABC wishes to clarify that Mr James has nothing whatsoever to do with the claims discussed as part of that story. The ABC apologises to Mr James.

News: On 13 October ABC News published an article on the release of Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle and their children from a Taliban-linked group known as the Haqqani network. The headline incorrectly suggested that the Haqqani network had released the hostages. As the story reported, the Pakistan military effected their release. The error was repeated by the 'ticker' on the ABC News channel.

News: In 2015, Rabbi Feldman gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and was asked by Counsel Assisting whether he understood it was against the law for an adult to touch the genitals of another child. The ABC accepts that Rabbi Feldman was aware that it was against the law to touch the genitals of a child for sexual purposes and the ABC did not intend to convey any meaning or imputation that Rabbi Feldman was ignorant of the fact that it was against the law to touch the genitals of a child sexually.

PM: On 20 October PM reported an estimate cited by CARE Australia that more than 400,000 Rohingya women and children have been subjected to or have witnessed sexual assault and gender-based violence. That data includes the total number of women and children subjected to or have witnessed sexual assault and gender-based violence as well as those currently at risk of gender-based violence.

News: An article published on 21 August 2017 examined complaints regarding the response to a fatal speedway crash. The story did not place statements thatMr Saurine was a ‘first responder’ and that he “dragged the men from the car before it caught fire” in the appropriate context, including the differing account provided by a statement from Queensland Raceways.

triple j Hack online: An article published in June 2017 by Hack online examined claims made by men’s rights activist groups about domestic violence.  The story at times conflated family violence with intimate partner violence and some statistics required further context and interpretation.  The story has been corrected and updated with further information.

News: On 7 September, 2017 the 7pm News in Queensland broadcast a story about the arrest of Queensland Police Superintendent Michelle Stenner on charges of misconduct and perjury. During that story some images of former Queensland Police Detective Inspector Karyn Murphy were also shown. We wish to clarify that Ms Murphy has not been accused of any wrongdoing and is not associated with the charges against Ms Stenner. We apologise to Ms Murphy for any confusion which the images may have caused.

News Breakfast: On 21 August ABC News Breakfast featured an interview with Kate van Doore. During the interview images of children in an orphanage were shown. The images were unrelated to the interview and should not have been used in the broadcast. The ABC wishes to clarify that there is no suggestion that any of the concerns Ms van Doore was expressing related to the children or the orphanage shown in the footage.   

News: On 24 August 2017, ABC News broadcast images of a person hunting waterfowl with a scoped rifle. This misrepresented reputable hunters, who generally use relatively short range shotguns firing pellets. The image has been removed.

ABC News: On 31 August 2017, ABC News published a story reporting an interview with former Liberal prime minister John Howard on the same-sex marriage survey.  The report stated that Mr Howard said the Government needed to consider protections outside of the ceremony – such as whether religious schools would be allowed to ban enrolments of children of married same-sex couples.  This was incorrect and has been removed from the story.

News: A story broadcast on the 7pm News and ABC Online on 30 September 2017 quoted a couple who had previously been residents in a Lendlease village as saying their general service fee had been increased by Lendlease from $300 a month to $500 a month. That was incorrect. The couple interviewed by the ABC actually said their fees had increased from $300 a quarter to $500 a quarter.

The Drum: On The Drum on 21 August there was a discussion of same-sex marriage, which is opposed by the Catholic Church. During that discussion a guest made a comment to the effect that Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, had ignored or covered up allegations of serious child abuse. The ABC wishes to clarify that that is not correct. There is no evidence and has been no finding that Archbishop Hart has ignored or covered up child abuse. The ABC apologises to Archbishop Hart for any harm the comments may have caused.

ABC News: On 8 August ABC News reported that Jarryd Hayne visited the property of John Ibrahim after a Police raid and that he is a celebrity friend of Mr Ibrahim’s. This was incorrect. The ABC misidentified a visitor to John Ibrahim’s property. The ABC accepts that Jarryd Hayne is not an associate of Mr Ibrahim’s and was in Queensland at the time. The ABC apologises for the error.

7.30 and News Digital: On 18 July, ABC News Digital reported that the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane did not respond to requests for comment; this story was corrected and their efforts to address domestic violence are reported in a further article: Australian church leaders call for urgent response to domestic violence. On 19 July, 7.30 broadcast a story on the treatment of women victims of domestic violence by some Christian Churches. The introduction to this story has been edited to remove a reference to research on the prevalence of domestic violence among evangelical Christian men, which was presented out of context. On 22 July, News Digital published an article on the response of Churches to these allegations. A quotation of a spokesman for the Anglican Church Southern Queensland was removed. Its use in the story mistakenly gave the impression that the spokesperson questioned that ABC News had found some churches are failing to sufficiently address domestic violence

7.30: On 17 July 2017, 7.30 reported that a medical doctor had sexually abused more than 100 patients after Australia's health regulator, AHPRA (the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency),  had been alerted to his behaviour but had failed to act.  The program should have made it clear that these were allegations of abuse, which had not been tested in court because the alleged offender had taken his life before facing trial.

News 24: On May 27th the ABC News Channel covered a Referendum 50th Anniversary event live from Melbourne.  The title of the news strap at the bottom of the screen erroneously said “Indigenous Citizenship 50th Anniversary”.  This was incorrect as the referendum proposed “to include Aboriginal people in the census” and “to allow the Commonwealth government to make laws for Aboriginal people”.

ABC News: On April 21 News Digital posted an article referring to "the decision by the Turnbull Government to cut penalty rates for Sunday workers". This was incorrect as the decision to cut rates was made by the Fair Work Commission.

RN Breakfast: During this interview, it was stated that the former Howard government had banned all automatic and semi-automatic weapons. RN Breakfast acknowledges the 1996 National Firearms Agreement banned military style automatic and semi-automatic firearms, while limiting the availability of non-military style semi-automatic rifles and shotguns to primary producers, professional vermin exterminators and a limited class of clay target firearm users.

7pm News: On May 15, 2017, ABC 7pm News (Sydney) broadcast a story concerning allegations of fraud and financial mismanagement relating to the NSW State Branch of the RSL. An image of the Merrylands RSL was used as part of that story. The ABC confirms that there have not been any such allegations levelled against the Merrylands RSL Club or its directors.

7pm News: On April 7 2017, in an ABC News Special on the US missile strikes on Syria, the program introduction stated the strikes were in retaliation to a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime. The report should have made it clear the chemical weapons attack was widely attributed to the Assad regime based on the weight of evidence, but this was disputed by the regime itself.