8147.0 - Use of the Internet by Householders, Australia, Aug 2000  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/11/2000   
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MEDIA RELEASE

November 21, 2000
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
158/2000

Australian children log on to information technology

The vast majority (95 per cent) of Australian children aged 5 to 14 had used a computer and almost half (47 per cent) had accessed the Internet in the past 12 months, according to findings released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Findings which relate to IT, from a survey of the activities of children, were summarised in a feature article in Use of the Internet by Householders.

The survey found that the older children were, the more likely they were to have used a computer or accessed the Internet. However the sex of the child did not affect the likelihood of use or access.

The most common home computer activities for children were school or educational activities and playing games, while the most common home Internet activities were school or educational activities, using email or chat rooms and browsing the Internet for leisure.

The regular ABS survey of household use of IT found that more than half of all Australian households (53 per cent or 3.7 million households) had a home computer and more than one third (34 per cent or 2.4 million households) had home Internet access at August 2000.

This compares to August 1999 data where 48 per cent of Australian households (3.4 million) had access to a home computer while 23 per cent (1.6 million) had home Internet access. The increase in the number of households with home Internet access (811,000 households) was much higher than the increase in the number of households with home computers (365,000 households) over the 12 months to August 2000.
    An estimated 6.6 million adults (48 per cent of Australia's adult population) accessed the Internet in the 12 months to August 2000. This compares with 5.6 million adults (41 per cent) who accessed the Internet in the 12 months to August 1999.
      Almost 6 per cent of Australian adults (802,000) used the Internet to purchase or order goods or services for their own private use during the 12 months to August 2000. This is a rise from the 5 per cent of adults (650,000) who did likewise during the 12 months to August 1999.

      Details are in Use of the Internet by Householders, Australia, August 2000 (cat. no. 8147.0) which is available from ABS Bookshops. The main features of the publication are available on this site. If you wish to purchase a copy of this publication, contact the ABS Bookshop in your capital city.