1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2006

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/01/2006

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Contents >> Chapter 23 - Information and communication technology >> Business use of information technology (IT)

BUSINESS USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

ADOPTION OF IT BY BUSINESSES

For the year ended 30 June 2004, 85% of Australian businesses used a computer, 74% used the Internet and 25% had a web presence.

A strong relationship exists between the employment size of a business and the likelihood that the business is using IT (table 23.12). As employment size increases, so does the proportion of businesses making use of IT. For example, for the year ended June 2004 all businesses with 100 or more people employed used computers, 99% used the Internet and 83% had a web presence. A much lower level of IT adoption existed for businesses with 0-4 people employed: 80% used computers; 67% used the Internet; and only 16% had a web presence.

23.12 BUSINESS USE OF SELECTED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES(a) - 2003-04
		Businesses with(a)
		Computer use	Internet use	Web presence
		%	%	%

Total businesses		85	74	25
Employment size
	0-4 persons	80	67	16
	5-19 persons	94	85	38
	20-99 persons	98	94	58
	100 or more persons	100	99	83
Industry
	Mining	88	82	36
	Manufacturing	88	76	36
	Electricity, gas and water supply	95	84	39
	Construction	78	63	11
	Wholesale trade	91	86	40
	Retail trade	81	69	23
	Accommodation, cafes and restaurants	72	58	29
	Transport and storage	83	66	^17
	Communication services	74	55	^17
	Finance and insurance	83	78	^27
	Property and business services	94	89	29
	Health and community services	91	76	17
	Cultural and recreational services	90	81	41
	Personal and other services	76	60	28

(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each category. Source: Business Use of Information Technology, 2003-04 (8129.0).

BUSINESS USE OF THE INTERNET

Data were collected on the main type of connection used to access the Internet as at the end of June 2004. A higher proportion of businesses using the Internet were mainly using non-broadband connections (58%) than broadband connections (41%). Broadband is defined by the ABS as an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256 kilobits per second. Dial-up (analog) was the most common main type of Internet connection for businesses with Internet use (50%), while Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) was the least common (8%).

Broadband connections were the most prevalent main Internet connection type for businesses which employed 100 or more people (78%) and 20-99 people (54%). In contrast, dial-up (analog) was the most common main Internet connection type for businesses which employed 0-4 people and 5-19 people at 54% and 49% respectively.

Graph 23.13: MAIN TYPE OF INTERNET ACCESS CONNECTION, By employment size(a) - 30 June 2004

For businesses using broadband, the most common main type of broadband connection used at the end of June 2004 was Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) at 67%. Cable was the next most common broadband connection type (28%). Cable includes fibre optic, coaxial and hybrid fibre coaxial cable.

For businesses with non-broadband Internet connection types, the most commonly reported reason for not using a broadband connection was a lack of perceived benefit (32%). This was followed by ongoing connection and usage costs being too high (26%), start up connection costs being too high (24%) and unavailability of broadband in the business location (23%).

BUSINESS USE OF WEB SITES

As at the end of June 2004, approximately 25% of Australian businesses reported having a web presence, either with their own web site or a presence on another entity's web site. As web features became more sophisticated, differences in these features across employment sizes of businesses were more significant. While approximately 7% of all businesses with a web presence reported the capability for secure access or transactions, this proportion was 17% for businesses employing 100 or more people. Similarly, while integration with back-end systems was reported as a web feature by 13% of all businesses with a web presence, the proportion of businesses with 100 or more people employed which reported this feature was 21% compared with 9% of businesses with 0-4 people employed.

INTERNET COMMERCE IN AUSTRALIA

The ABS defines Internet commerce as placing or receiving orders for goods and services via the Internet or web, including email, with or without associated online payments.

The proportion of businesses that reported placing orders for goods and services via the Internet or web during 2003-04 was 42%. For this same period, 16% of businesses indicated they had received orders via the Internet or web.