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FINAL ISSUE


SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


INTRODUCTION

The publication presents statistics on the extent of computer and Internet access in Australia.

The survey was conducted during November 2000, collecting information from 3,200 adults randomly selected from private households. It excludes households in remote and sparsely settled areas.

An annual publication, Household Use of Information Technology, Australia (Cat. no. 8146.0) is available for 1998 and 1999. The 2000 edition is due for release on Friday May 4, 2001. This publication presents results based upon data consolidated from the four quarterly surveys of each year. This consolidation allows detail for smaller target groups, such as State and Territory populations, to be presented.

The November 2000 survey was the final quarterly survey regarding the use of the Internet by householders. The ABS is currently developing an annual survey to collect details of Internet use by householders. Before presenting the results for November 2000, an overview of the results from all the quarterly surveys follows.


A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE QUARTERLY SERIES

The influence of the Internet has spread considerably throughout Australian households over the three years for which information was collected. In February 1998, the first quarter of the survey, roughly one in every eight households had home Internet access compared to one in every three by November 2000. Before the end of the year 2001 it is expected that every second household in Australia will have home Internet access.


Household computer and Internet access




HOUSEHOLD ACCESS

By November 2000 over half (56%) of the households in Australia, or 4.0 million households, had access to a computer at home. The number of households with home Internet access rose to 2.7 million, or 37% of all Australian households.

While the proportion of households with home access continues to rise for both computers and the Internet, the difference is decreasing. Higher levels of access occur in households with higher incomes, in households with children under 18 years and among households located in metropolitan areas.

	Households with access to a computer at home			Households with access to the Internet at home
	November 1998	November 1999	November 2000	November 1998	November 1999	November 2000
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Household income
$0-$49,999	34	33	37	10	12	21
$50,000 or more	69	71	77	34	43	57
Households
With children under 18 years	67	69	74	25	35	48
Without children under 18 years	36	39	46	15	20	32
Region
Metropolitan areas	50	53	59	22	30	40
Other areas	43	44	52	13	17	32
Total	47	50	56	19	25	37

• 9.2 million adults, or 66% of all adults in Australia, used a computer.

• 6.9 million adults, or 50% of all adults in Australia, accessed the Internet.

• As age increased, the likelihood that an adult was either a computer user or an Internet user decreased.

• Older adults were more likely to use a computer or access the Internet at home, younger adults at sites other than home or work and the remaining adults either at home or work.

• There were only small differences in the likelihoods than an adult male was a computer or Internet user compared to an adult female.

• Employed adults were more likely to have used a computer or accessed the Internet than adults who were not employed. Even at home, large differences existed in these likelihoods.

• As income increased, the likelihood that an adult was either a computer user or an Internet user increased. Both at home and at work there were large differences in the likelihood that adults with incomes under $40,000 had used a computer or accessed the Internet compared to adults with incomes of $40,000 or more.

• Adults in metropolitan areas were more likely to have used a computer or to have accessed the Internet than adults in other areas.

	Site of computer use(c)				Site of Internet access(c)
	Home	Work	Other	Any site	Home	Work	Other	Any site
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Age (in years)
18-24	63	47	79	88	43	26	58	74
25-39	52	54	51	81	38	34	33	64
40-54	56	55	34	72	39	33	17	52
55 or over	23	12	14	32	13	8	6	19
Sex
Males	49	44	40	67	35	28	27	53
Females	45	40	39	65	29	23	22	47
Employment status
Employed	58	62	47	82	40	38	30	63
Not employed	27	n.a	26	38	19	n.a	14	25
Income
$0-$39,999	40	30	38	59	26	15	23	41
$40,000 or more	65	77	46	89	48	55	32	75
Region
Metropolitan areas	48	44	40	68	35	28	26	52
Other areas	44	38	40	63	28	21	21	44
Total	47	42	40	66	32	25	24	50

• In the 12 months to November 2000, 10% of all adults in Australia, or 1,335,000 adults, purchased or ordered goods and services for their own private use via the Internet.

• Few Australian adults (12% of all adults) used the Internet to access government services in the 12 months to November 2000.

• A similar number of Australian adults (13% of all adults) used the Internet to pay bills or transfer funds in the 3 months to November 2000.

• In the 3 months to November 2000, almost half (49%) of all adults in Australia used the telephone to pay bills or transfer funds, two thirds (67%) used EFTPOS and almost three-quarters (74%) used ATMs.

• Very few Australian adults (7% of employed adults) had an agreement with their employer to work from home on an ongoing basis. Five out of every six of those adults reported they made use of particular technologies, such as portable PCs, modems, floppy disks, CDs or mobile phones, to work from home.