Australian Bureau of Statistics
1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2003
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/01/2003
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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.
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).
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:
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%).
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:
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%).
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:
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.
This page last updated 20 January 2006
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