• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

COMPARISON OF HOME COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS

The ratio of Australian households with access to the Internet at home as a proportion of those with access to a computer has increased steadily. In 1998, only a third of the households with computer access had access to the Internet. In 2006-07, this stands at 88%, reflecting a robust growth in take-up of the Internet during this period from 1.1 million households in 1998 to 5.1 million in 2006-07.

Figure 2.3: Household computer or Internet access, Number of households - 1998 to 2006-07

Figure 2.4: Households without access to a computer and the internet, by selected characteristics - 2006-07

Table 2.1: Households with access to a home computer , Selected Characteristics, by period - 1998 to 2006-07
		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS ('000)
Households
	Without children under 15	1 730	1 932	2 255	2 636	2 842	3 179	3 388	3 614	3 909
	With children under 15	1 354	1 404	1 548	1 675	1 714	1 860	1 878	1 913	1 951
State/Territory
	New South Wales	1 023	1 079	1 244	1 435	1 528	1 653	1 723	1 822	1 918
	Victoria	791	867	987	1 108	1 144	1 278	1 306	1 361	1 435
	Queensland	562	585	680	776	822	957	1 026	1 092	1 159
	South Australia	246	272	299	346	355	390	409	429	451
	Western Australia	300	352	397	427	479	512	545	560	613
	Tasmania	66	75	84	96	98	111	119	121	131
	Northern Territory(a)	20	27	28	28	34	np	38	41	46
	Australian Capital Territory	75	79	84	94	96	99	99	101	108
Region
	Metropolitan areas	2 126	2 302	2 543	2 928	3 091	3 349	3 455	3 655	3 848
	Ex-metropolitan areas	958	1 035	1 260	1 383	1 465	1 689	1 810	1 872	2 013
	Total households in Australia with access to a home computer	3 083	3 337	3 803	4 311	4 556	5 038	5 266	5 527	5 860
Total households in Australia		7 002	7 100	7 236	7 377	7 468	7 633	7 847	7 945	8 071
PROPORTION OF ALL HOUSEHOLDS (%)
Households
	Without children under 15	36	39	44	51	53	58	60	63	67
	With children under 15	63	65	71	77	79	85	84	87	88
State/Territory
	New South Wales	44	45	52	59	61	65	67	69	72
	Victoria	46	50	56	61	62	68	68	69	72
	Queensland	43	44	50	55	57	65	67	72	74
	South Australia	41	45	49	56	58	62	64	67	69
	Western Australia	44	50	55	58	63	67	69	71	76
	Tasmania	36	40	45	50	51	57	61	60	66
	Northern Territory(a)	42	55	54	52	62	np	71	70	75
	Australian Capital Territory	64	66	70	77	78	80	79	82	84
Region
	Metropolitan areas	48	51	55	62	65	69	69	72	75
	Ex-metropolitan areas	38	40	48	52	54	61	63	65	68
	Total households in Australia with access to a home computer	44	47	53	58	61	66	67	70	73
Total households in Australia		100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Northern Territory estimates for 2003 are included in the totals and other classifications but cannot be shown separately.

Table 2.2: Households with access to a home computer, Additional Characteristics - 2006-07
			Total number of households	Households with access to home computer
			'000	%
	Equivalised household income
		$0 - $39,999(a)	3 743	61
		$40,000 - $79,999	2 028	85
		$80,000 - $119,999	463	91
		$120,000 or over	184	96
		Could not be determined	1 652	76
	Household income
		$0 - $39,999(a)	2 473	49
		$40,000 - $79,999	1 905	79
		$80,000 - $119,999	1 105	90
		$120,000 or over	935	96
		Could not be determined	1 652	76
	Equivalised household quintiles(b)
		Lowest quintile	1 283	44
		Second quintile	1 284	63
		Third quintile	1 284	78
		Fourth quintile	1 284	84
		Highest quintile	1 284	90
	Remoteness area
		Major cities of Australia	5 341	75
		Inner regional Australia	1 732	69
		Outer regional Australia	883	66
		Remote Australia	^114	72
Total			8 071	73
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Includes those households with income less than zero.
(b) Excludes those households where income could not be determined.

Table 2.3: Households with Home Internet Access(a), Selected Characteristics, by period - 1998 to 2006-07
		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS ('000)
Households
	Without children under 15	657	905	1 408	1 936	2 153	2 537	2 772	3 048	3 356
	With children under 15	441	633	932	1 178	1 292	1 502	1 621	1 683	1 782
State/Territory
	New South Wales	414	514	776	1 088	1 196	1 365	1 455	1 570	1 712
	Victoria	255	394	603	780	852	1 019	1 085	1 161	1 253
	Queensland	194	269	416	563	602	757	861	937	1 020
	South Australia	75	117	177	229	261	300	323	356	369
	Western Australia	101	155	245	300	366	406	456	484	536
	Tasmania	19	34	48	59	67	78	94	99	112
	Northern Territory	8	14	18	21	26	np	34	35	41
	Australian Capital Territory	32	41	56	73	74	82	84	89	95
Region
	Metropolitan areas	834	1 151	1 665	2 206	2 398	2 737	2 940	3 182	3 448
	Ex-metropolitan areas	264	387	676	908	1 047	1 303	1 452	1 548	1 691
Total households in Australia with Internet Access		1 098	1 538	2 340	3 114	3 445	4 039	4 393	4 730	5 138
Total households in Australia		7 002	7 100	7 236	7 377	7 468	7 633	7 847	7 945	8 071
PROPORTION OF ALL HOUSEHOLDS (%)
Households
	Without children under 15	14	18	28	37	40	47	49	53	57
	With children under 15	20	29	43	54	59	68	72	76	81
State/Territory
	New South Wales	18	22	32	45	48	54	56	60	64
	Victoria	15	23	34	43	46	54	57	59	63
	Queensland	15	20	31	40	42	52	56	61	65
	South Australia	12	19	29	37	43	48	50	56	57
	Western Australia	15	22	34	41	48	53	58	62	66
	Tasmania	10	18	25	31	35	41	48	49	56
	Northern Territory	16	30	35	38	48	np	61	60	67
	Australian Capital Territory	27	34	46	60	60	66	67	72	73
Region
	Metropolitan areas	19	25	36	47	50	56	59	63	67
	Ex-metropolitan areas	10	15	26	34	39	47	51	54	57
Total households in Australia with Internet Access		16	22	32	42	46	53	56	60	64
Total households in Australia		100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Northern Territory estimates for 2003 are included in totals and other classifications but can not be shown separately

Table 2.4: Households with Home Access to the Internet, Additional Characteristics - 2006-07
			Total number of all households	Households with access to the Internet at home
			'000	%
	Equivalised household income
		$0 - $39,999(a)	3 743	50
		$40,000 - $79,999	2 028	77
		$80,000 - $119,999	463	86
		$120,000 or over	184	91
		Could not be determined	1 652	68
	Household income
		$0 - $39,999(a)	2 473	37
		$40,000 - $79,999	1 905	68
		$80,000 - $119,999	1 105	83
		$120,000 or over	935	93
		Could not be determined	1 652	68
	Equivalised household income quintiles(b)
		Lowest quintile	1 283	33
		Second quintile	1 284	52
		Third quintile	1 284	67
		Fourth quintile	1 284	75
		Highest quintile	1 284	85
	Remoteness area
		Major cities of Australia	5 341	67
		Inner regional Australia	1 732	58
		Outer regional Australia	883	56
		Remote Australia	114	^61
Total			8 071	64
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Includes those households with income less than zero.
(b) Excludes those households where income could not be determined.

Table 2.5: Households without access to a home computer and/or the Internet, Selected Characteristics - 2006-07
		Households without access to a home computer		Households without access to the Internet at home
		'000	%	'000	%
Households
	Without children under 15	1 950	33	2 501	43
	With children under 15	260	12	428	19
State/Territory
	New South Wales	756	28	960	36
	Victoria	550	28	732	37
	Queensland	406	26	544	35
	South Australia	201	31	282	43
	Western Australia	193	24	271	34
	Tasmania	68	34	87	44
	Northern Territory	^15	^25	^20	^33
	Australian Capital Territory	21	16	34	26
Region
	Metropolitan areas	1 267	25	1 665	33
	Ex-metropolitan areas	943	32	1 264	43
Equivalised household income
	$0 - $39,999(a)	1 459	39	1 857	50
	$40,000 - $79,999	304	15	466	23
	$80,000 - $119,999	^41	^9	^66	^14
	$120,000 or over	^7	^4	^16	^9
	Could not be determined	400	24	524	32
Household income
	$0 - $39,999(a)	1 271	51	1 552	63
	$40,000 - $79,999	394	21	599	31
	$80,000 - $119,999	108	10	185	17
	$120,000 or over	^37	^4	70	7
	Could not be determined	400	24	524	32
Equivalised household income quintiles(b)
	Lowest quintile	724	56	863	67
	Second quintile	478	37	617	48
	Third quintile	285	22	419	33
	Fourth quintile	201	16	316	25
	Highest quintile	124	10	190	15
Remoteness area
	Major cities of Australia	1 341	25	1 761	33
	Inner regional Australia	540	31	733	42
	Outer regional Australia	297	34	390	44
	Remote Australia	^32	^28	^45	^39
Total		2 210	27	2 929	36
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Includes those households with income less than zero.
(b) Excludes those households where income could not be determined.