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CHAPTER 7 INTERNET ACCESS BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

In 2006, 455,028 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (indigenous) people were counted in the Census, representing an increase of 11% between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses. The census count for the total population has increased by 6% over the same period. Over the past 20 years, the census count of Indigenous people has doubled from 227,593 in 1986. This high level of growth is a result of natural increase (the excess of births over deaths) and non-demographic factors such as people identifying their Indigenous origin for the first time in the Census.

In this chapter Internet and Broadband connectivity for Indigenous people is examined. In a previous study based on 2001 Census, Daly (2005) revealed a relationship between the low levels of Internet usage by Indigenous Australians and the lower levels of income and education of the Australian Indigenous people. In this chapter, the relationship between Internet connectivity for Indigenous people and some selected socio-economic factors is examined.

Figure 30 presents the variation in Internet connectivity among non-Indigenous and Indigenous people. Internet connectivity for non-Indigenous people was almost double compared with their Indigenous counterparts. Aboriginal, Torres Straight Islanders and Both Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders had similar proportions of Internet and Broadband connectivity.

Figure 30: Internet Access by Indigenous Status (a) - August 2006

The Indigenous Regions with the highest usual residence census counts of indigenous people are Sydney (41,804), Brisbane (41,369) and Coffs Harbour (40,041) all located along the eastern seaboard of Australia. This is consistent with the 2001 Census results. The Indigenous Regions with the highest proportion of Indigenous residents are outside major population centres and include the Torres Strait Indigenous Region in Queensland (83%), and the Apatula and Jabiru Indigenous Regions in Northern Territory (79% and 77% respectively) (ABS, 2007b).

Apatula recorded the lowest Internet (2%) and Broadband (1%) connectivity. Jabiru, Nhulunbuy, Katherine, Kurunnurra, Cape York and Tennant Creek all recorded any Internet connectivity less than 10%. Indigenous people in the ACT had the highest Internet (64%) and Broadband (45%) connectivity.

Table 7: Internet Access by Indigenous Persons by Place of Enumeration, Indigenous Region, August 2006
		Any Internet		Broadband connection
		Person Records	Proportion of persons	Person Records	Proportion of persons
		no.	%	no.	%
Indigenous
	Sydney	12 221	55	8 607	38
	Queanbeyan	1 894	43	1 043	23
	Bourke	899	23	539	14
	Coffs Harbour	9 895	47	5 643	27
	Tamworth	2 338	32	1 291	18
	Wagga Wagga	3 109	39	1 718	21
	Dubbo	1 632	36	841	19
	Melbourne	4 595	58	3 229	41
	Non-Metropolitan Victoria	3 245	41	1 825	23
	Brisbane	12 259	56	8 299	38
	Cairns	2 530	28	1 488	17
	Mount Isa	658	20	407	13
	Cape York	272	7	139	3
	Rockhampton	3 020	41	1 773	24
	Roma	2 129	36	1 223	21
	Torres Strait Indigenous Region	515	14	244	6
	Townsville	3 196	35	1 908	21
	Adelaide	3 620	41	1 980	23
	Ceduna	189	19	104	10
	Port Augusta	560	17	312	9
	Perth	4 262	41	2 675	26
	Broome	361	21	214	12
	Kununurra	142	7	85	4
	Narrogin	1 236	31	671	17
	South Hedland	686	24	513	18
	Derby	421	18	194	8
	Kalgoorlie	425	17	274	11
	Geraldton	554	23	315	13
	Tasmania	5 128	53	2 614	27
	Darwin	1 933	39	1 079	22
	Alice Springs	519	24	301	14
	Jabiru	184	4	91	2
	Katherine	290	7	113	3
	Apatula	111	2	71	1
	Nhulunbuy	210	4	117	2
	Tennant Creek	160	9	114	6
	ACT	1 403	66	994	47
	Other Territories - Indigenous Region not stated	5	39	2	15

Table 8 summarises the connectivity of Indigenous people according to the remoteness classification of their place of enumeration. Indigenous people living in the major cities have 54% Internet and 37% Broadband access from home. This proportion decreases with increasing remoteness. The Indigenous persons living in very remote areas recorded only 8% of any Internet and 4% of Broadband access from home.

Table 8: Internet Access by Indigenous People by Place of Enumeration - Remoteness - August 2006
	Any Internet	% Any Internet	Broadband	% BB connection
	psns	%	psns	%
Major Cities	36 672	54	24 812	37
Inner Regional	21 051	48	11 996	27
Outer Regional	16 176	36	8 746	19
Remote	3 778	25	2 187	15
Very Remote	2 795	8	1 453	4

Figure 31: Internet Access by Indigenous Persons, by Section of State Structure, August 2006

Table 9: Internet Access by Indigenous People(a)(b), by Place of Enumeration - Section of State Structure - August 2006(c)
		Any Internet		Broadband connection
		Person Records	Proportions of persons	Person Records	Proportions of persons
		no.	%	no.	%
Indigenous
	NSW Rural	3 313	47	1 270	18
	NSW Localities	1 268	34	737	20
	NSW Urban	27 378	45	17 662	29
	VIC Rural	693	50	272	20
	VIC Localities	184	48	92	24
	VIC Urban	6 964	50	4 689	33
	QLD Rural	2 369	44	883	17
	QLD Localities	1 111	14	544	7
	QLD Urban	21 100	41	14 055	28
	SA Rural	438	24	119	6
	SA Localities	152	16	21	2
	SA Urban	3 776	37	2 255	22
	WA Rural	715	17	294	7
	WA Localities	462	11	207	5
	WA Urban	6 911	34	4 443	22
	TAS Rural	1 159	55	337	16
	TAS Localities	388	51	187	24
	TAS Urban	3 578	53	2 087	31
	NT Rural	386	6	174	3
	NT Localities	249	3	124	1
	NT Urban	2 774	24	1 588	14
	ACT Rural	3	30	-	-
	ACT Urban	1 400	66	994	47
	Other Rural	26	20	14	11
	Other Localities	4	33	4	33
	Other Urban	3	100	-	-
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Includes Aboriginal, Torres Straight Island and both Aboriginal and Torres Staright Island People
(b) Includes persons of age 15 years or more
(c) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.

7.2. Income

Table 10 compares the connectivity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people according to their weekly equivalised household income. The results show that the Indigenous people in each income group had much lower connectivity compared to those non-Indigenous people in the same income categories. Even the Indigenous people in the highest weekly income range ($2000 or more) have about 20 percentage points lower connectivity compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts in the same income range. Thus income may not be the only factor driving the lower connectivity rate for Indigenous people.

Table 10: Internet Access by Weekly Equivalised Household Income , by Indigenous Status - August 2006(a)
		Any Internet		Broadband connection
		Person Records	Proportions of persons	Person Records	Proportions of persons
		no.	%	no.	%
Non-Indigenous
	Nil or Negative income	86 572	63	62 905	46
	$1-$599	3 733 641	59	2 240 453	35
	$600-$999	3 210 953	79	2 118 836	52
	$1000-$1999	2 667 082	87	1 953 255	64
	$2000+	369 325	89	293 365	71
Indigenous
	Nil or Negative income	646	29	384	17
	$1-$599	64 568	31	37 921	18
	$600-$999	30 841	63	19 362	40
	$1000-$1999	15 420	75	10 340	50
	$2000+	1 168	67	879	51
(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.

7.3. Labour force status

Table 11 compares the rate of connectivity for Indigenous people and non-indigenous people by their labour force status. Among the non-Indigenous people, people not in the labour force have the lowest connectivity (54% any Internet and 34% Broadband). The full-time working Indigenous people (the group with the highest connectivity for Indigenous people), have only 56% any Internet and 35% Broadband.

Table 11: Internet Access by Labour Force Status by Indigenous Status - August 2006(a)
		Any Internet		Broadband connection
		Person Records	Proportions of persons	Person Records	Proportions of persons
		no.	%	no.	%
Non-Indigenous
	Employed, worked full-time	4 232 084	79	2 858 790	53
	Employed, worked part-time	2 016 167	81	1 368 968	55
	Employed, away from work	373 289	76	247 542	50
	Unemployed, looking for full-time work	166 587	63	107 536	41
	Unemployed, looking for part-time work	126 472	75	87 247	51
	Not in the labour force	2 426 102	54	1 528 799	34
Indigenous
	Employed, worked full-time	32 451	56	20 156	35
	Employed, worked part-time	17 164	42	10 475	25
	Employed, away from work	4 082	41	2 496	25
	Unemployed, looking for full-time work	4 097	30	2 484	18
	Unemployed, looking for part-time work	1 870	33	1 119	20
	Not in the labour force	26 048	27	15 597	16
(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.

7.4. Education

Table 12 gives a comparison of the connectivity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people by their highest year of school completed. Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people recorded the highest rate of connectivity in the category Year 12 or equivalent. However, the rate was about 25% lower for the Indigenous people in the same category.

Table 12: Internet Access by the Highest Year of School Completed by Indigenous Status - August 2006(a)
		Any Internet		Broadband connection
		Person Records	Proportions of persons	Person Records	Proportions of persons
		no.	%	no.	%
Non-Indigenous
	Year 12 or equivalent	4 964 919	81	3 463 140	57
	Year 11 or equivalent	1 064 360	74	686 119	48
	Year 10 or equivalent	2 193 070	68	1 363 285	42
	Year 9 or equivalent	543 925	57	337 173	35
	Year 8 or below	340 289	36	197 804	21
	Did not go to school	45 836	41	30 219	27
Indigenous
	Year 12 or equivalent	27 055	56	17 133	35
	Year 11 or equivalent	11 453	43	7 047	27
	Year 10 or equivalent	28 141	41	16 943	25
	Year 9 or equivalent	9 874	31	5 939	19
	Year 8 or below	5 880	17	3 343	10
	Did not go to school	512	11	272	6
(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.

Further to the examination of the highest year of school completed, in Table 13 the difference of the connectivity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people according to their highest level of post school education attainment is examined. As seen before in income, labour force status and the highest year of school completed, the highest level of post school education attainment also showed that rate of connectivity for Indigenous people in the same categories are lower compared to the rate of connectivity of their non-indigenous counterparts.

Table 13: Internet Access by the Highest Level of Educational Attainment, by Indigenous Status - August 2006
		Any Internet		Broadband connection
		Person Records	Proportions of persons	Person Records	Proportions of persons
		no.	%	no.	%
Non-Indigenous
	Postgraduate Degree Level	351 051	92	258 436	68
	Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level	188 671	89	128 543	60
	Bachelor Degree Level	1 476 720	87	1 048 213	62
	Advanced Diploma and Diploma Level	854 500	83	575 390	56
	Certificate Level	1 731 724	72	1 086 423	45
Indigenous
	Postgraduate Degree Level	873	84	562	54
	Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level	732	71	474	46
	Bachelor Degree Level	5 391	73	3 402	46
	Advanced Diploma and Diploma Level	4 767	62	2 921	38
	Certificate Level	16 790	51	10 118	31