ABC fact check returns after budget cuts

The ABC's fact check unit will be relaunched at a time of so-called "fake news" after it was closed down due to budget cuts.

The public broadcaster has teamed up with RMIT University to again test the accuracy of claims made by politicians and advocacy groups after the service was a casualty of the federal government's budget cuts last May.

"In a time of post-truth, alternative facts and fake news, it is ever more critical to hold public figures to account and ensure that public discourse - the basis of democracy - is based in fact," said Dean of the School of Media and Communication Martyn Hook.