HOW AUSTRALIA ACCESSES AND USES THE INTERNET

Australians have access to a range of internet access technologies, including analog, digital subscriber line (DSL), hybrid fibre coaxial, fixed and mobile wireless, satellite and optical fibre services. The availability of these services depends upon a consumer's geographic location.

At the end of June 2009 there were 8.4 million active internet subscribers in Australia, with household subscriptions accounting for 84%, with the remaining 16% being corporate, business and government subscribers (table 25.7).

25.7 Internet Activity Summary, Australia
		June 2008(a)	June 2009(b)
		'000	'000
Subscribers
Dial-up
	Business and government	291	215
	Household	1 275	887
	Total	1 566	1 103
Non dial-up
	Business and government	726	1 174
	Household	4 935	6 144
	Total	5 661	7 317
Total
	Business and government	1 018	1 389
	Household	6 210	7 031
	Total	7 228	8 420
(a) Data for ISPs with more than 10,000 active subscribers.
(b) Data for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.
Source: ABS Internet Activity, Australia (8153.0).

At 30 June 2009, 87% of subscribers used a broadband internet connection, compared with 13% who used dial-up services (table 25.8). The most prevalent form of access technology for broadband connections was DSL which accounted for 50% of all subscriptions. Mobile wireless technology recorded the largest growth in subscriber numbers, rising from 16% of all connections on 31 December 2008 to 23% on 30 June 2009.

25.8 Internet subscribers, by access connection - June 2009
		No. of subscribers	Proportion of subscribers
		'000	%
Dial-up
	Analog	1 077	13
	ISDN/Other	10	-
	Total	1 087	13
Non dial-up
	DSL	4 171	50
	Fixed wireless	160	2
	Mobile wireless	1 961	23
	Satellite	90	1
	Cable and fibre	931	11
	ISDN/Other	20	-
	Total	7 333	87
Total all subscribers		8 420	100
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Source: ABS Internet Activity, Australia (8153.0).

Graph 25.9 shows the overall trend of internet access connections; notably, the switch from dial-up to non-dial-up connections. In June 2006, there were 2.8 million dial-up connections in Australia compared with 3.2 million non dial-up connections. Dial-up connections continued to decrease over the three years to June 2009 to 1.0 million subscribers, while non dial-up connections increased over the same period to 7.2 million subscribers as Australians availed themselves of broadband technology. The graph also depicts the trend in the uptake of wireless technology with wireless connections increasing from 0.1 million in June 2006 to 2.1 million in June 2009.

Internet subscribers continued to switch to higher download speeds with over half of all subscriptions (57% or 4.8 million) now with download speeds of 1.5Mbps or greater (table 25.10). A speed of 1.5Mbps or greater enables live streaming of video.

25.10 Internet subscribers, By subscriber type and download speed - June 2009
			Number of subscribers	Proportion of subscribers
			'000	%
Business and Government Subscribers
	Less than 256 kbps		215	3
	Broadband(a)
		256kbps to less than 512kbps	124	1
		512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps	166	2
		1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps	698	8
		8Mbps to less than 24Mbps	147	2
		24Mbps or greater	39	-
		Total broadband (256kbps or greater)	1 174	14
	Total all download speeds		1 389	16
Household Subscribers
	Less than 256 kbps		887	11
	Broadband(a)
		256kbps to less than 512kbps	1 173	14
		512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps	1 084	13
		1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps	1 831	22
		8Mbps to less than 24Mbps	1 652	20
		24Mbps or greater	404	5
		Total broadband (256kbps or greater)	6 144	73
	Total all download speeds		7 031	84
All Subscribers
	Less than 256 kbps		1 103	13
	Broadband(a)
		256kbps to less than 512kbps	1 297	15
		512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps	1 249	15
		1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps	2 529	30
		8Mbps to less than 24Mbps	1 800	21
		24Mbps or greater	443	5
		Total broadband (256kbps or greater)	7 317	87
	Total all download speeds		8 420	100
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Broadband refers to an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256 kbps.
Source: ABS Internet Activity, Australia (8153.0).

Business use

The proportion of Australian businesses using the Internet to place orders during 2007-08 was 43% which continued the pattern of growth over recent years of this business practice. The proportion of businesses reporting receipt of orders via the internet has remained relatively steady over the past two years, moving from 21% in 2005-06 to 24% in 2007-08, although the overall volume of income that resulted from orders received via the internet for goods or services increased significantly from $56.7b to $81.0b over the same time frame. In terms of the percentage of income received from these orders, the majority of businesses received less than 10% of their income from orders received in this manner.

25.11 Internet commerce(a)
			2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Businesses which
	Placed orders via the Internet or web	%	28	31	33	37	40	43
	Received orders via the Internet or web	%	13	12	12	21	23	24
Internet income		$b	24.3	33.3	39.6	56.7	67.6	81.0
(a) Proportions are of all businesses.
Source: ABS Business Use of Information Technology (8129.0).

As with web presence and internet access, the likelihood of a business placing orders via the Internet or web increased with the employment size of the business (table 25.12). In 2007-08, 71% of businesses with 200 or more employees placed orders in this manner, compared with 37% of businesses with 0-4 employees. At the industry level, Information media and telecommunications had the highest proportion of businesses which placed orders via the Internet or web (61%), while Transport, postal and warehousing and Construction both reported the lowest proportions (28% and 30% respectively).

There was less variability by employment size for businesses receiving orders via the Internet or web. Businesses with 20-199 employees received the highest proportion of orders in this way (32%), compared with those employing 0-4 people which received the lowest proportion (21%). At the industry level, Information media and telecommunications had the highest proportion of businesses which received orders via the Internet or web (41%), while the lowest proportion was recorded for Health care and social assistance (11%).

25.12 Business use of selected technologies, By employment size and industry - 2007-08
		Businesses which:
		Placed orders via the Internet or web	Received orders via the Internet or web
		%	%
Employment size
	0-4 persons	37	21
	5-19 persons	51	29
	20-199 persons	59	32
	200 or more persons	71	29
Industry
	Mining	46	14
	Manufacturing	46	38
	Electricity, gas, water and waste services	34	23
	Construction	30	19
	Wholesale trade	50	40
	Retail trade	48	32
	Accommodation and food services	33	17
	Transport, postal and warehousing	28	17
	Information, media and telecommunications	61	41
	Financial and insurance services	50	19
	Rental, hiring and real estate services	51	24
	Professional, scientific and technical services	60	26
	Administrative and support services	43	22
	Health care and social assistance	39	11
	Arts and recreation services	51	24
	Other services	32	17
Total		43	24
Source: ABS Business Use of Information Technology (8129.0).

Personal use

During 2008-09, three quarters (74%) of people aged 15 years or over accessed the internet in the previous 12 months (table 25.13). Home was the most popular location to access the internet for two thirds (68%) of people aged 15 years or over, followed by work (35%) and a neighbour's, friend's or relative's house (25%).

Use of the internet at any location was significantly higher than average (74%) for those with the following characteristics: people aged 15 to 17 years (94%); people from households in the top two income quintiles (93% for the highest and 87% for the second highest); people with higher levels of educational attainment (93% for people with a Bachelor degree or above); and the employed (85%). In contrast, older people (31% for people 65 or over), people with lower household incomes (44% for people in the lowest quintile), people not employed (54%) and Indigenous people (62%) reported significantly lower than average levels of internet access.

In 2008-09, 71% of people accessing the internet from home reported personal or private purposes as the main purpose of internet access, followed by work related purposes (17%) (see table 25.13). Work related purposes were reported more frequently as the main purpose of internet use at home among income earners in the highest income quintile (27%) and people with higher levels of educational attainment (27% of people with a Bachelor degree or higher).

25.13 Use of Internet at home, By main purpose - 2008-09
		No. of persons aged 15 years or over who used the Internet at home	Personal or private purposes	Work or business related purposes	Education or study related purposes	Voluntary or community purpose	Other purposes	Could not be determined
Characteristics		'000	%	%	%	%	%	%
Age group (years)
	15-17	755	71	np	27	np	np	*2
	18-24	1 659	75	np	20	np	np	**1
	25-34	2 382	75	15	^8	-	*1	*1
	35-44	2 461	68	24	^6	*1	-	*1
	45-54	2 163	66	25	^7	*1	*1	*1
	55-64	1 393	71	21	*3	^4	*1	*1
	65 or over	779	80	^10	*2	^4	*2	*1
Sex
	Male	5 814	70	20	8	^1	-	^1
	Female	5 777	73	13	11	^1	^1	^1
Personal income
	Less than $40,000(a)	5 391	74	9	14	^1	-	^1
	$40,000-$79,999	3 271	74	18	^6	*1	*1	^1
	$80,000-$119,000	934	61	32	^5	**1	np	np
	$120,000 or over	529	49	46	*3	**2	np	np
	Could not be determined	1 466	71	20	^5	*1	*1	*2
Equivalised household income quintiles
	Lowest quintile	827	69	^13	^16	*2	**1	-
	Second quintile	1 568	75	^10	^12	^2	-	*1
	Third quintile	1 910	75	14	^9	^1	*1	*1
	Fourth quintile	2 241	74	17	7	*1	-	*1
	Highest quintile	2 361	64	27	^7	*1	*1	^1
	Could not be determined	2 684	72	15	10	^1	-	*1
Labour force status(b)
	Employed	8 647	70	21	7	^1	-	^1
	Not employed	2 944	77	^3	15	^3	*1	*1
Indigenous
	Non Indigenous	11 491	71	17	9	np	np	np
	Indigenous	^100	^66	*18	**10	np	np	np
Level of highest educational attanment
	Bachelor degree or above	2 989	60	27	10	^2	-	^1
	Advanced diploma or diploma	1 361	73	17	^8	*1	**1	*1
	Certificate	2 009	75	17	^5	*1	*1	*1
	Year 12 or below	5 053	76	10	12	^1	*1	^1
State or territory
	New South Wales	3 776	71	17	10	*1	*1	*1
	Victoria	2 951	72	16	10	^2	-	*1
	Queensland	2 303	71	17	^9	*2	*1	*1
	South Australia	824	71	15	11	*1	*1	*1
	Western Australia	1 202	72	19	^7	*1	np	np
	Tasmania	235	75	^16	^7	*1	np	np
	Northern Territory	87	72	^18	*8	**1	-	**1
	Australian Capital Territory	212	76	^14	^7	**2	np	np
Remoteness area
	Major cities of Australia	8 477	71	17	10	^1	-	^1
	Inner regional Australia	2 134	73	16	^8	^2	-	*1
	Outer regional Australia	844	71	^19	^8	np	np	*1
	Remote Australia	^127	73	^20	**1	np	np	*3
Region
	Metropolitan areas	7 832	71	17	10	^1	-	^1
	Ex-metropolitan areas	3 759	73	17	^8	^2	*1	^1
Total		11 591	71	17	9	^1	-	^1
^ 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
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Includes those persons with income less than zero.
(b) Labour force status in the week before the survey.
Source: ABS Household Use of Information Technology, Australia 2008-09 (8146.0).

The proportion of people accessing the internet at home who used the internet every day grew from 51% in 2007-08 to 58% in 2008-09. During 2008-09, two-thirds (67%) of people aged 15-34 years accessed the internet every day, compared with around half (52%) the people aged 35 years or more. Nearly all (94%) people with access to the internet used it at least weekly.


Children's use of the internet and mobile phones

The 2009 Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities survey reported that of the 2.7 million children aged 5 to 14 years, 79% used the internet. Home was reported as the most common site of internet use (73%) followed by school (69%). Of the 2.0 million children accessing the internet at home in 2009, educational activities (85%) and playing online games (69%) were the most common activities. Less than half (42%) of children who used the internet at home did so for 2 hours or less per week, while 4% were online for 20 hours or more.

In 2009 an estimated 841,000 children (31%) aged 5 to 14 years had access to their own mobile phones. Of these children, the majority (60%) used their mobile phone mostly to contact family. Only a small proportion of children (4%) used their mobile phone to access the internet.

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