8129.0 - Business Use of Information Technology, 2004-05  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/03/2006   
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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)

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
Graph: 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
Graph: 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)

2001-02
2002-03(b)
2003-04
2004-05

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

(a) Proportions are of all businesses.
(b) Affected by TNTS - see Explanatory Note 10.

BUSINESS USE OF SELECTED TECHNOLOGIES (a), by selected business characteristics

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

^ 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.