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The ABC has admitted to an "error" in a story that claimed a five-year-old raped at Nauru was slated to return to the island and face his attacker, after immigration officials on Monday labelled the report a "figment".
The report on ABC's 7.30 program this month said paediatricians had detailed their concerns about the child. It came on the eve of a High Court ruling that ultimately found the government's offshore detention network was lawful.
At a Senate estimates hearing on Monday Immigration Department chief Michael Pezzullo denied the reports, saying "there is no five-year-old child – it's a figment".
He said the pediatrician who took part in the broadcast, Karen Zwi, "has conveyed to the department she doesn't understand how the reference to a five-year-old child emerged".
Mr Pezzullo said some media reporting of the asylum seeker issue was "advocacy parading as journalism" and "pamphleteering of an almost political nature" which bent the facts.
In a statement, ABC news director Gaven Morris said the broadcaster "acknowledges an error" that confused two different medical cases recounted by the doctor.
"One was an older child. The doctor stands by her statement that this child was allegedly raped on Nauru," Mr Morris said.
"She also told our reporters about another of her patients, a five-year-old who was allegedly sexually assaulted on Nauru. Our story incorrectly used quotes about the older child in referring to the younger child."
The broadcast also wrongly referred to the incident as a rape, rather than an alleged rape, he said, adding "ABC News apologises for the errors and confusion".
Department official Cheryl-anne Moy told the Senate hearing the incident involved "physical skin-to-skin contact" and the child was "more than double the age of five".
She said the attacker was another child transferee.