Abortion statistics have dived to 30-year lows but no-one seems to have told the medical fraternity.

Key points: Recent statistics point to reduction in abortions across Australia, to a rate as low as 13.5 per 1,000 women — or 65,000 terminations a year

Recent statistics point to reduction in abortions across Australia, to a rate as low as 13.5 per 1,000 women — or 65,000 terminations a year 'Consensus statement' released by health and family planning groups in September cites estimates 80,000 abortions a year

'Consensus statement' released by health and family planning groups in September cites estimates 80,000 abortions a year This figure is based on a 2005 paper looking at data from 14 years ago

An ABC investigation has found that Australia has been following international trends and many of the available statistics point to a marked reduction in terminations across the country to a rate as low as 13.5 per 1,000 women.

Despite the available evidence, key opinion leaders, including the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, academics and family planning clinics, continue to mistakenly suggest Australia has one of the highest rates of abortion in the developed world — even though it is lower than countries like the UK and Canada.

The claim is often made in studies and statements promoting the use of a new generation of contraceptives known as long-acting reversible contraceptives, or LARCs.

They include the commonly used Implanon implant and Mirena intra-uterine device.

The ABC has revealed there are serious concerns about side effects from two of these types of contraceptives, and many medical groups are receiving payments for education and consulting services by the pharmaceutical giants that make the devices.

The outdated abortion figures were most recently cited in a "consensus statement" put out by health and family planning groups for World Contraception Day in September this year.

The statement, which was picked up by other media, backed the use of long-acting contraceptives and cited statistics that there was an estimated 80,000 abortions each year in Australia.

It was signed by groups including the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), Family Planning NSW, Marie Stopes, and the Australian Health and Hospitals Association.

However, the statement was sponsored by the Merck, Sharp and Dohme — the makers of LARCs including the Implanon implant and vaginal ring, called the Nuva-Ring.

While it was disclosed that the pharmaceutical company sponsored the statement, they failed to say the company made long-acting contraceptives.

'Consensus statement' based on data from 2003

The 80,000 figure was from the 2005 paper by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), which pulled together a complex web of medical statistics to estimate terminations around the country.

It was based on figures from the year 2003 — 14 years ago — and suggested a rate of 19.7 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age.

Long-acting reversible contraceptives have been growing in popularity in recent years. ( ABC News: Alison Branley )

That study also cast a wide net to include any kind of abortion, such as those done during multiple pregnancies and after traumatic injury, not just unintended pregnancies.

The ABC has also found at least six major and recent academic papers by Australian contraceptive specialists from academic centres such as Monash University, which cite this 80,000 figure to support the need for long-acting contraceptives.

They use phrases like "Australia's abortion rates are among the highest in the developed world" and "Australia has high rates of teenage pregnancy compared with many Western countries".

Those academics have also declared research funding and overseas education trips from Bayer, the maker of the intra-uterine device Mirena.

SA, WA figures show decline in abortions

However, researchers routinely ignored that both the South Australia and West Australian health departments keep detailed, current and public statistics on terminations.

In South Australia, the rate of terminations among childbearing women has dropped from 16.7 to 13.5 for every 1,000 women between 2003 and 2015.

To put that in context, a rate of 13.5 is similar to the rates in the late 1970s and early '80s in that state, and down from a peak in 1999.

And it is lower than countries like Canada (14.0), England and Wales (16.0), and France (13.9), and comparable to New Zealand (13.5) and the US (12.5).

Similarly in Western Australia the rates dropped from 18.6 to 16.4 between 2003 in 2012.

In fact in South Australia, the teenage pregnancy rate is the lowest rate recorded since 1970.

Abortion is still in the criminal code in Queensland and NSW. ( Supplied: Susan Kotzur-Yang )

Among those academics quoting the 80,000 figures is Monash University department of general practice head Professor Danielle Mazza.

She said she had not seen the declines reported and would be interested in seeing published reports.

"What happens in South Australia and Western Australia may not reflect what is happening around the rest of the country," she said.

In her papers on LARCs she declares funding from Bayer, makers of the Mirena, as do other co-authors.

"I accept the fact that industry funding is often viewed as skewing research," she said. "I declare my funding and associations so that this is transparent to those who read my work."

Many reasons behind drop in termination figures

Experts theorise the drop in abortions is due to the increased availability of the morning-after pill, better education about contraceptives, and declining birth rates overall.

The Guttmacher Institute is a US-based sexual health think tank.

Its vice-president of international research, Susheela Singh, said abortion rates in the developing world dropped from 39 per cent to 27 per cent of all pregnancies between 1994 and 2014, something she described as "a significant change".

"The trend in the developed world suggests that women and couples in this region have become more successful at avoiding unintended pregnancies through increased access to and use of contraception," she said.

And while the internet means it has never been easier to find out about contraception, advocates for LARCs still feel more education is needed.

In its "consensus statement", advocates also called for LARCs to be taught in high schools.

However, they are part of the syllabus in most states; the NSW high school syllabus specifically includes a section on all available forms of contraception.

Dr Barbara Mintzes, who is a specialist in pharmaceutical policy at the University of Sydney, said the consensus statement seemed bizarre and "exaggerated".

Demand for Mirena and Implanon have both sharply increased in recent years.

In the past decade, about 950,000 scripts for each of the devices have been written for Australian women who have them for three to five years.

Good-quality information allows for appropriate decisions: RANZCOG

Dr Amber Moore from RANZCOG defended the consensus statement.

"It's based on high levels of science and the fact that there was some financial support from the manufacturer, I think, has not got any influence on the information," she said.

She was unaware that there were more recent statistics on abortion but said it was indicative that better data was needed.

"It's only with the benefit of having good-quality information that we can make appropriate decisions and make appropriate recommendations to women," she said.

"I've never met a woman who has ever taken the choice to have an abortion flippantly, so whether it's one or 100,000 I think there are women for whom we can provide safe, reliable, cost-effective and completely reversible contraception, so that they don't have to undergo that degree of emotional stress."

Family Planning NSW chief executive officer Professor Ann Brassil said there was no suggestion within the report that the number of abortions should be used to promote the uptake of LARCs.

"LARC methods are one of a suite of contraceptive options which can be used to prevent unintended pregnancy," she said.

"There is clearly a need for the Government to support national consistency in relation to abortion law and for up-to-date mandatory national data collections in relation to abortion."

Statistics point to need for a new review

The last time the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare waded through the complex world of medical statistics to estimate the number of abortions in Australia was in 2005 using 2003 figures.

An ABC analysis of updated versions of the same figures that fed some of the 2005 AIHW report suggests the rate has come down significantly since the 2005 report.

For example the Medicare Benefits Schedule item most commonly used for abortions has dropped from 72,967 to 47,683 between 2003 and 2016.

The two main hospital classification codes used for abortion are also showing reductions.

The only increase has been among RU486 scripts — but almost half of that use has been in Queensland alone.

And as mentioned, South Australia and West Australian health department statistics show and almost identical trend in a reduction in abortions.

South Australia's 2015 data is the most recent available and suggests there was 4,439 actual abortions or a rate of 13.5 per 1,000 women of childbearing age.

If it is extrapolated nationally for that year, it suggests the real number of abortions in Australia in recent years is more likely to be close to 65,000.

Either way it is significantly lower than 80,000 and is trending down nationally.