INTRODUCTION
This publication presents results from an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey of Business Use of Information Technology (BUIT) conducted in respect of 2004-05.
CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE
The content of the BUIT survey changes each year to reflect the changing nature of information technology (IT) use by Australian businesses. As such, some of the content of this publication has changed compared to the previous issue. For example, information on IT support is not presented in this issue due to data on this topic not being collected in the 2004-05 survey. However, additional data on the main type of Internet connection and barriers to use of broadband are included.
NUMBER OF BUSINESSES
The BUIT survey is not designed to provide high quality estimates of numbers of businesses for any of the output classifications (for example, state and territory or industry) and the number of businesses in this publication are only included to provide contextual information for the user. A more robust source of counts of Australian businesses is available from Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register, Counts of Businesses (cat. no. 8161.0.55.001). Please see Explanatory Notes 17 and 18 for more information.
CHANGES TO THE SURVEY VEHICLE
The 2004-05 BUIT survey was the last stand-alone collection to be conducted. From 2005-06, data related to business use of IT will be collected as part of the Business Characteristics Survey (BCS). This new survey will provide greater flexibility in measurement of a range of business characteristics and more comprehensive integration of these types of data for analysis of inter-relationships between business characteristics and economic outcomes, for example, productivity. It is expected that the main variables included in this publication will continue to be published on an annual basis as part of a release which covers other business characteristics as well. Users of this publication will be contacted later this year with further details on how BUIT type data will be made available from 2005-06 onwards.
COMMENTS
If you wish to make comments and suggestions about IT related content in the BCS or this publication, please write to the Director, Innovation and Technology Statistics, Australian Bureau of Statistics, GPO Box K881, Perth WA, 6842, or email mike.scott@abs.gov.au.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Peta Hart on Perth (08) 9360 5303.
SUMMARY COMMENTARY
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents a summary of outputs from the 2004-05 Business Use of Information Technology (BUIT) survey and focuses on key indicators of computer use, Internet access, web presence and Internet commerce.
ADOPTION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
After little change for four years, the proportion of businesses using a computer increased by 4 percentage points during the year ended June 2005. The proportion of businesses with Internet use and web presence has continued to grow steadily.
BUSINESS USE OF SELECTED TECHNOLOGIES (a) |
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| 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03(b) | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| |
Businesses with computer use | 84 | 84 | 83 | 85 | 89 | |
Businesses with Internet use | 69 | 71 | 71 | 74 | 77 | |
Businesses with web presence | 22 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 27 | |
| |
(a) Proportions are of all businesses. |
(b) Affected by The New Tax System (TNTS) - see Explanatory Note 10. |
INTERNET ACCESS
While the proportion of businesses with Internet access increased by 3 percentage points overall, there were more significant changes in the main type of Internet connection. The proportion of businesses which had broadband as their main Internet connection type grew strongly from 41% at the end of June 2004 to 63% at the end of June 2005. Broadband is defined by the ABS as an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256kbps.
MAIN TYPE OF INTERNET CONNECTION (a), as at 30 June
For the first time since the survey started, broadband was the most prevalent type of Internet connection for businesses across all employment sizes. 89% of businesses which employed 100 or more persons had broadband as their main connection type.
MAIN TYPE OF INTERNET CONNECTION BY EMPLOYMENT SIZE (a), as at 30 June 2005
Businesses using broadband as the main type of Internet connection were also asked to identify the main type of broadband connection used as at the end of June 2005. The most common broadband connection used was DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) with 68% of broadband users identifying this as the main type of broadband connection. The next most common main type of broadband connection was cable (26%) which includes Fibre Optic, Coaxial and Hybrid Fibre (Coaxial) cable.
The 2004-05 survey collected the perceived reasons why businesses with non-broadband Internet access did not use a broadband connection as the main type of connection. Businesses could identify more than one reason. Perceived unavailability in business location and lack of perceived benefit (32% each) were the most common reasons reported by businesses for not using broadband, followed by ongoing connection and usage costs too high (21%) and start up connection costs too high (18%). Broadband had not been considered by 15% of businesses with non-broadband Internet access.
INTERNET COMMERCE
The 2004-05 survey measured the proportion of Australian businesses using the Internet or web to place and/or receive orders, with or without online payments, and the value of Internet or web orders received by businesses (Internet income). Caution should be used when interpreting values of Internet income, please refer to Explanatory Notes 12 to 16.
The proportion of businesses which reported placing orders via the Internet or web during 2004-05 was 33%, an increase of 2 percentage points from the previous year. This is a continuation of the growth observed over recent years for this business practice.
While the proportion of businesses reporting receipt of orders via the Internet or web has remained unchanged over the last few years, the income received from these orders has increased significantly over this time. Internet income grew by 19% from $33.3 billion in 2003-04 to $39.6 billion in 2004-05.
ORDERS FOR GOODS AND SERVICES VIA THE INTERNET OR WEB (a) |
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| | | 2001-02 | 2002-03(b) | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
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Businesses which | | | | | | |
| Placed orders via the Internet or web | % | 25 | 28 | 31 | 33 | |
| Received orders via the Internet or web | % | 6 | 13 | 12 | 12 | |
Internet Income | $b | 11 | 24 | 33 | 40 | |
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(a) Proportions are of all businesses. |
(b) Affected by TNTS - see Explanatory Note 10. |
BUSINESS USE OF SELECTED TECHNOLOGIES (a), by selected business characteristics |
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| | Number of businesses(b) | Businesses with computer use | Businesses with Internet use | Businesses with web presence | Businesses which placed orders via the internet or web | Businesses which received orders via the internet or web | |
| | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
| | '000 | '000 | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| |
Employment size | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 0-4 persons | 451 | 455 | 80 | 85 | 67 | 71 | 16 | 17 | 27 | 28 | 9 | 10 | |
| 5-19 persons | 201 | 204 | 94 | 95 | 85 | 86 | 38 | 41 | 38 | 40 | 16 | 15 | |
| 20-99 persons | 39 | 39 | 98 | 97 | 94 | 92 | 58 | 59 | 43 | 47 | 23 | ^21 | |
| 100 or more persons | 7 | 7 | 100 | 100 | 99 | 99 | 83 | 91 | 69 | 74 | ^21 | ^25 | |
Total income | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Less than $100,000 | 162 | 154 | 74 | 80 | 62 | 62 | ^12 | ^10 | 23 | 21 | ^8 | ^6 | |
| $100,000 to less than $1m | 405 | 409 | 86 | 89 | 73 | 77 | 22 | 24 | 30 | 33 | 10 | 12 | |
| $1m to less than $5m | 101 | 111 | 97 | 97 | 91 | 90 | 46 | 49 | 43 | 43 | 21 | ^19 | |
| $5m or more | 31 | 30 | 99 | 100 | 98 | 99 | 68 | 70 | 58 | 59 | ^25 | ^22 | |
Industry | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mining | 2 | 3 | 88 | 92 | 82 | 88 | 36 | 38 | 34 | 36 | ^6 | ^6 | |
| Manufacturing | 57 | 58 | 88 | 88 | 76 | 75 | 36 | 38 | 33 | 35 | ^21 | ^18 | |
| Electricity, gas and water supply | 1 | 1 | 95 | 97 | 84 | 90 | 39 | 43 | 42 | 51 | ^12 | ^14 | |
| Construction | 108 | 110 | 78 | 84 | 63 | 66 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 20 | ^6 | ^7 | |
| Wholesale trade | 44 | 44 | 91 | 95 | 86 | 87 | 40 | 44 | 40 | 45 | ^28 | ^24 | |
| Retail trade | 119 | 118 | 81 | 84 | 69 | 73 | 23 | ^24 | 28 | 27 | ^11 | ^10 | |
| Accommodation, cafes and restaurants | 36 | 37 | 72 | 77 | 58 | 62 | 29 | 31 | ^20 | ^23 | ^12 | ^16 | |
| Transport and storage | 35 | 36 | 83 | 82 | 66 | 67 | ^17 | 16 | ^20 | 21 | ^13 | ^12 | |
| Communication services | 8 | 8 | 74 | 84 | 55 | 62 | ^17 | 19 | 23 | 28 | ^11 | ^10 | |
| Finance and insurance | 28 | 29 | 83 | 95 | 78 | 85 | ^27 | 28 | ^31 | 38 | *7 | ^9 | |
| Property and business services | 159 | 158 | 94 | 95 | 89 | 89 | 29 | 33 | 46 | 45 | ^13 | ^14 | |
| Health and community services | 53 | 53 | 91 | 94 | 76 | 80 | 17 | 19 | 29 | 36 | ^4 | ^4 | |
| Cultural and recreational services | 19 | 19 | 90 | 97 | 81 | 90 | 41 | 50 | 44 | 46 | ^17 | ^20 | |
| Personal and other services | 31 | 32 | 76 | 82 | 60 | 66 | 28 | 25 | 23 | 24 | ^9 | ^11 | |
State | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| New South Wales | 250 | 248 | 84 | 87 | 74 | 75 | 24 | 23 | 31 | 31 | 12 | ^10 | |
| Victoria | 183 | 182 | 85 | 89 | 71 | 75 | 26 | 30 | 33 | 32 | ^12 | ^12 | |
| Queensland | 129 | 137 | 87 | 90 | 78 | 80 | 27 | 29 | 33 | 35 | ^13 | ^13 | |
| South Australia | 43 | 44 | 89 | 92 | 76 | 82 | 28 | 31 | 32 | 37 | ^14 | ^16 | |
| Western Australia | 65 | 67 | 83 | 90 | 72 | 76 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 29 | ^9 | ^12 | |
| Tasmania | 12 | 11 | 89 | 92 | 74 | 86 | ^26 | ^28 | ^29 | ^40 | ^17 | ^18 | |
| Northern Territory | ^5 | ^6 | 92 | 95 | 82 | 83 | *21 | ^28 | *43 | ^39 | *14 | *16 | |
| Australian Capital Territory | ^11 | 10 | 89 | 92 | ^78 | 84 | ^21 | ^28 | ^37 | ^44 | *12 | ^20 | |
Region | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Capital cities | 486 | 483 | 86 | 89 | 75 | 78 | 27 | 29 | 33 | 34 | 13 | 13 | |
| Other areas | 212 | 222 | 83 | 87 | 71 | 74 | 21 | 22 | 27 | 30 | ^10 | ^10 | |
Total | 698 | 705 | 85 | 89 | 74 | 77 | 25 | 27 | 31 | 33 | 12 | 12 | |
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^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution |
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution |
(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each category. |
(b) See Explanatory Notes 17 to 18. |