1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2003

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/01/2003

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Contents >> Communications and Information Technology >> Household use of information technology

In 2000, 53% of households (3.8 million) had a computer, an 11% increase over 1999. About one-third (33%) of households (2.3 million) had Internet access, a 49% increase over 1999 (graph 24.12). The graph also shows estimates for households with a home computer and those with Internet access in 2001 based on the reported intentions of those households without either in 2000. On that basis, a little over 60% of households were expected to have a home computer and almost 50% were expected to have home Internet access.

Graph - 24.12 Household computer and internet access(a)

Characteristics of households with home Internet access

Households with children and those on higher incomes were more likely to have access to computers and the Internet at home (table 24.13).

24.13 HOUSEHOLD COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS
		Computer access(a)			Internet access(a)

		1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
		%	%	%	%	%	%

Households
	With children under 18	64	66	72	22	31	45
	Without children under 18	33	37	43	13	17	26
Household income
	Under $25,000	20	21	24	5	6	10
	$25,000-$49,999	44	45	52	12	17	28
	$50,000-$74,999	61	64	66	21	31	40
	$75,000-$99,999	71	73	78	32	39	55
	$100,000 or more	80	81	85	44	52	69
All households		45	48	53	16	22	33

(a) Proportions are of all households in each category.
Source: Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2000 (8146.0).

Characteristics of adult Internet users

An estimated 6.5 million adults in Australia (47% of all adults) accessed the Internet from any site (home, work or other site) at some time in 2000 (table 24.14). The comparable figure for 1999 was 5.6 million adults (41% of all adults). During 2000:

75% of 18-24 year olds accessed the Internet from any site, compared with 62% of 25-34 year olds, 52% of 35-44 year olds, 47% of 45-54 year olds, 26% of 55-64 year olds and 9% of adults aged 65 years and over

50% of adult males and 43% of adult females accessed the Internet from any site

50% of adults in capital cities accessed the Internet from any site, compared with 40% of adults who resided in other areas.

24.14 ADULTS ACCESSING THE INTERNET(a)(b), Main characteristics - 2000
		Site of Internet access(c)

		Home	Work	Other sites	Any site
		%	%	%	%

Age group (years)
	18-24	39	24	59	75
	25-34	34	33	33	62
	35-44	35	28	19	52
	45-54	33	29	14	47
	55-64	18	13	8	26
	65 or over	7	2	2	9
Sex
	Males	32	26	24	50
	Females	25	20	21	43
Region
	Capital cities	32	25	24	50
	Rest of Australia	22	19	20	40
All adults		29	23	22	47

(a) Proportions are of all persons in each category. (b) Internet access occurred during the preceding 12 months. (c) Persons may have accessed the Internet at only one or any number of sites.
Source: Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2000 (8146.0).

During 2000, adults were most likely to access the Internet from home, a significant change from the patterns of 1998 and 1999 (graph 24.15). This reflects the strong growth over recent years in the number of households with home Internet access. The most prevalent uses of the Internet by adults at home during 2000 were to use email or chat rooms (68% of adults accessing the Internet at home), general browsing (57%) and to find information related to work (36%).

Graph - 24.15 Adult internet access, by access site

Characteristics of children accessing the Internet

An estimated 2.5 million children (47% of all children) in Australia aged 5-14 years accessed the Internet from any site (home, school or elsewhere) at some time during the 12 months to April 2000 (table 24.16). Among children aged 5-14 years:

regardless of whether Internet access occurred at home, school or elsewhere, the likelihood that a child had accessed the Internet increased with age

there was virtually no difference in the likelihood that a child of either sex had accessed the Internet, either at home, school or elsewhere

overall, there was no difference in the likelihood that the Internet had been accessed between children in capital cities and those in other areas. However, children in capital cities were more likely to access the Internet at home than children in other areas.

24.16 CHILDREN ACCESSING THE INTERNET(a)(b), Main characteristics - April 2000(c)
		Site of Internet access(d)

		Home	School	Someone else's home	Public library	Any site
		%	%	%	%	%

Age groups (years)
	5-8	12	12	3	1	22
	9-11	30	37	10	3	55
	12-14	42	51	19	7	72
Sex
	Males	27	32	10	4	47
	Females	25	30	9	3	46
Region
	Capital cities	28	30	10	3	47
	Rest of Australia	23	33	10	4	47
All children		26	31	10	3	47

(a) Children were aged 5-14 years. (b) Proportions are of all children in each category. (c) Internet access occurred during the preceding 12 months. (d) Children may have accessed the Internet at only one or any number of sites.
Source: Use of the Internet by Householders, Australia, August 2000 (8147.0).

The most prevalent uses of the Internet at home by children aged 5-14 years were for school or educational activities (83% of all 5-14 year olds who accessed the Internet at home), to use email or chat rooms (51%), browsing the Internet for leisure (50%) and to play games (40%).

Internet purchasing

About 7% of Australian adults (967,000) used the Internet to purchase or order goods or services for their own private use in 2000, compared to 5% of Australian adults (653,000) in 1999. The majority of Internet users (5.5 million adults) were not Internet shoppers during 2000.

In 2000, adults mainly purchased or ordered the following items over the Internet:

books or magazines (by 33% of adult Internet shoppers)

music (by 21%)

computer software (by 19%).

During this period, 82% of adult Internet shoppers paid for all or part of their purchases/orders on-line. On average, over a 12-month period, each Internet shopper in 2000 spent $600 purchasing or ordering goods or services for private use via the Internet.