When we came into government in 2013, there were 2,000 kids in detention. Now, there's less than 100, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a doorstop interview on February 15, 2016.
Mr Turnbull's claim is overreach. The Coalition won the election on September 7, 2013, and was sworn into office on September 18, 2013. Fact Check considers the Coalition "came into government" on one of these dates but could not establish the precise number of children in detention on either date. However, an August 2014 media release from then immigration minister Scott Morrison said: "When Labor left office there were 1,392 children in held detention". Monthly statistics published by the Department of Immigration and the Parliamentary Library show 1,773 children were in detention at the end of August 2013. In late August 2013, Mr Morrison noted that the Labor government was releasing children from detention. The number of children in detention fell to 1,165 at the end of September 2013. The most recent figures indicate 88 children were in onshore detention facilities on January 31, 2016. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told Parliament on February 9 there were 75 children in detention. The Immigration Department told Fact Check that on February 11 there were 74 "illegal maritime arrival" children in onshore detention facilities. However, experts consulted by Fact Check did not agree on whether the total number of children in detention should include children currently on Nauru. The most recent figures show 54 children are on Nauru. If those children are added, the total number of children in detention on January 31 was 142. On either definition, the number of children in detention has been falling since October 2015.
Fact Check: Has the number of children in detention dropped from 2,000 to about 75 under the Coalition?
['Malcolm_Turnbull']