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| - AAP FACTCHECK – The Australian government is supposedly removing 2.7 million children from their parents each year, according to a social media post.
This is false. The post makes a significant calculation error, erroneously adding millions to the number of children in out-of-home care.
The latest statistics, as of June 2022, show there were 45,400 children in out-of-home care.
The post claims that: “2,753,000 out of 5,100,000 children are taken from natural biological parents over 50% while native [sic] Australians make up 0.08% of children taken away from biological parents!”
It includes a mishmash of screenshots from multiple government documents and news reports, featuring statistics around child protection services.
One of the screenshots highlights a figure from the Child Protection Australia 2019-20 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
This reads: “Each year, around 3% of all children aged 0–17 are assisted by Australia’s child protection systems”.
The user then adds a red text overlay on the images, which reads: “3% per year X 18 years = 54%”.
They then claim 54 per cent of Australia’s 5.1 million children are being “trafficked”, which totals 2.754 million.
The maths behind this claim contains several significant errors.
Firstly, the three per cent referred to in the report relates to all children assisted by child protection systems, not exclusively those who have been “removed” from their parents or are receiving out-of-home care.
The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows 45,400 children were in out-of-home care (page 4) as of June 2022.
This amounts to about 0.9 per cent of the user’s figure of 5.1 million children, which appears to be a statistic from 2014.
Of the 45,400 children, 19,400 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, or 42.7 per cent of the children, not 0.08 per cent as claimed.
Secondly, the three per cent figure refers to all children aged 0-17 who access child protection services.
Taking the user’s figure of 5.1 million children in Australia, three per cent of this is 153,000 children, not 2.754 million.
To add an extra three per cent for every year up to 18, to produce a total of 54 per cent, is nonsensical.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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