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Oceania
02 March 2019
Australia
Population
24.77 million
2018 population growth rate
1.32%
Estimated prevalence among girls and women aged 15-49
There is no national data on female genital cutting (FGC) prevalence in Australia. One model from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that 53,000 women and girls born outside Australia but now living in the country, have undergone the cut. A 2014 small scale survey of paediatricians in Australia found that 23 respondents (2.3%) had seen 59 children who had undergone FGC procedures in the last 5 years.
Source: British Medical Journal
Type practised
FGC is not known to be traditionally practised in Australia. The type of FGC practised by migrant communities living in Australia will typically depend on the ethnic group and/or country of origin. There have been reports of Type I FGC being carried out to curb mastubation.
[Source: UNICEF, DHS and MICS]
Legal status
Illegal.
Human Development Index ranking
3 in 2018 index, based on 2017 data.
Infant mortality rate
3 deaths per 1,000 live births (2016).
Maternal mortality rate
6 deaths per 100,000 live births (2015).
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