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Feature Article - Use of Information Technology in Western Australia

(This article was published in the June quarter 2001 issue of Western Australian Statistical Indicators (ABS Catalogue Number 1367.5))

INTRODUCTION

Information technology (IT) is having a significant impact on the way Australians undertake their work, do business and interact socially. Personal computers and the Internet have combined to create a global information economy, with ever expanding opportunities to communicate, gather information, transact business and provide essential services nationally and internationally. Through the use of information technologies, the barriers of isolation and distance, once significant factors for a state the size of Western Australia, are being broken down.

Western Australia is at the national forefront of IT access and use. An increasing number of Western Australians now use information technologies from home to undertake work activities, learn, make financial transactions, shop or for entertainment. Western Australian businesses are also well placed to use information technologies to expand their market opportunities, both locally and internationally.

This article examines the uptake and use of information technology by three sectors of the Western Australian economy - people, businesses and farms.


PEOPLE'S USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

In 2000, more Western Australian adults accessed a computer or the Internet at home than at any other place. Over half (56%) of Western Australian households had access to a computer at home while just over one third (34%) had home Internet access in 2000. Within those households, there were 685,000 adults (or 51% of all adults) who actually used the home computer and 420,000 adults (32% of all adults) who accessed the Internet from home. Also, 198,000 children aged 5 to 14 years (73% of all children in that age group) used a computer at home, while 75,900 (28%) accessed the Internet from home.


ARE THERE MORE HOUSEHOLDS WITH ACCESS TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY?

Significant rates of growth over recent years in the number of households with IT have brought Western Australian households to the national forefront in terms of home IT access.

		Computer	Internet
		%	%
Family type
Couple without dependants		47	30
Couple with dependants		79	52
Single parent		59	26
Single person		29	16
Other		60	36
Households
Without children under 18		44	28
With children under 18		75	46
Household income
Less than $25,000		30	14
$25,000 to $49,999		52	28
$50,000 to $74,999		69	44
$75,000 or more		83	62
Region
Metropolitan area		58	37
Outside metropolitan area		49	27
Total		56	34

• age was a notable factor, with those adults aged 18 - 24 years much more likely to have used a computer or to have accessed the Internet (67% and 41% respectively) than those aged 55 years or more (25% and 13% respectively);

• males were slightly more likely than females to have done so;

• those on higher incomes were more likely to have done so;

• adults with higher levels of qualification were more likely to have accessed IT. For example, those with a Bachelors degree (56%) were more than twice as likely to have accessed the Internet than those whose highest level of qualification was to complete secondary school (24%); and

• those employed were almost twice as likely to have accessed IT compared with the unemployed. For example, 38% of employed adults accessed the Internet from home compared with 20% of unemployed adults.

• the proportion who accessed IT increased with age. Computer and Internet access ranged from 63% and 14% respectively of 5 - 8 year olds, to 77% and 30% (respectively) of 9 -11 year olds and to 82% and 44% (respectively) of 12 -14 year olds; and

• between the sexes, there was little difference in the proportion who accessed IT.

Activity			%
Work related purposes			52
Personal or family correspondence			46
Learning or study activities			43
Playing games			39
Keeping personal or family records			35
Hobbies			19
Other purposes			5
(a) Percentages are of all adults using a computer at home.

Activity			%
Using email or chat sites			70
General browsing			56
Finding information relating to work			35
Finding information relating to studies			27
Finding information on goods or services			27
Finding technical information, patches or software			17
Playing games			10
(a) Percentages are of all adults accessing the Internet at home.

		Computer use	Internet access
Industry		%	%
Mining		87	81
Manufacturing		84	68
Construction		72	47
Wholesale trade		71	39
Retail trade		71	44
Accommodation, cafes and restaurants		65	38
Transport and storage		59	45
Communication services		84	44
Finance and insurance		77	75
Property and business services		88	76
Health and community services		79	49
Cultural and recreational services		75	46
Personal and other services		59	36
All industries(a)		75	54
(a) Total includes Electricity, gas and water supply, for which figures are not publishable.

• 29% were engaged in activities associated with selling goods or services, including receiving orders, sending invoices, and providing after sales service (28% nationally);

• 26% used it for activities associated with buying goods or services, such as ordering supplies, purchasing information on-line or receiving invoices (24% nationally); and

• 42% used it for banking (36% nationally).

	Total farms	Farms using a computer	Farms using the Internet
Industry	no.	%	%
Horticulture and fruit growing	2,041	59	23
Grain, sheep and beef cattle farming	10,700	59	17
Dairy cattle farming	436	57	18
Poultry farming	158	65	28
Other livestock farming	313	59	23
Other crop growing	98	*34	**19
Other(b)	292	69	*26
All farms - WA	14,038	59	18
(a) Percentages are of all Western Australian farms in each industry. (b) Relates to establishments with an EVAO of $5,000 or more but which are classified to a non-agricultural ANZSIC class.

• for farms with Internet access, just over a third of those with an EVAO under $25,000 shopped on the Internet. This may be due to the presence of a large number of farms with non-agricultural activity within this group. For all other EVAO size groups, the proportion of farms who shopped on the Internet varied little, ranging from 16% to 20%;

• around 24% of farm Internet shoppers spent over $1,000 on their purchases/orders, while just under half spent $250 or less;

• computer software (41% of farm Internet shoppers), and books/magazines (36% of farm Internet shoppers) were the most popular types of purchases/orders, while 20% of Australian farm Internet shoppers used the Internet to purchase or order agricultural-related products such as farm machinery, materials and livestock; and

• around 71% of farm Internet shoppers paid for their purchases/orders on-line.

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