INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY


This chapter provides an overview of the information technology topic, including:

• Accessing the internet;
• Supplied equipment; and
• Government services accessed.

Accessing the internet

People aged 5 years and over were asked whether they accessed the internet in the 12 months prior to interview. Accessing the internet included access through all device types, such as computers, mobile phones, games consoles, internet-enabled TVs or any other device that was capable of accessing the internet. The person did not need to personally own the device and access of the internet was included in any location. Responses could be yes, no or don't know.

People who did not, or it was not known if they had, accessed the internet in the previous 12 months were sequenced to the end of the module. For children aged 5–14 years, this was the end of the survey. People aged 15 years and over were sequenced to the smoking module.

People who had accessed the internet in the previous 12 months were asked if they had accessed the internet at home in the previous 12 months. Responses could be yes, no or don't know. Those who said no or don't know were sequenced to the question about supplied equipment. People who had accessed the internet at home in the previous 12 months were asked how often, with the following response options.

• every day;
• at least weekly;
• at least monthly;
• at least yearly; and
• don't know.

Supplied equipment

People who had accessed the internet in the previous 12 months were asked about accessing the internet using supplied equipment at any of the following locations:

• work;
• school, TAFE, university or other educational institution;
• public library;
• government shop-front/agency/department;
• internet/cyber cafe or similar;
• neighbour's, friend's or relative's house;
• community centre or voluntary organisation;
• parent's work or study place;
• other place;
• none of the above; and
• not known.

Internet access through a mobile phone was excluded for this question. More than one response could be provided. The response option of 'work' was not available to people aged less than 15 years. Similarly, those aged less than 15 years had an option of 'school' rather than 'school, TAFE, university or other educational institution'. The 'not known' option was only available for people aged 5–14 years (as a proxy was answering the question). People aged 5–14 years concluded the survey after the supplied equipment question.

Government services accessed

People aged 15 years and over who had accessed the internet in the previous 12 months were asked if they had used the internet to access government services for private purposes in the previous 12 months, and which ones. The response options were:

Type of government services accessed via the internet for private purposes. Responses included:

Electronic lodgement of:

• tax returns;
• claims or application for benefits (e.g. Centrelink, Medicare);
• applications for permits etc.;
• bill payments (e.g. using BPAY to pay rates or car registration etc.);

Information or services relating to:

• taxation;
• pensions or benefits (e.g. Centrelink, Medicare);
• employment/unemployment;
• community safety education;
• healthcare;
• other;

• no government services accessed via the internet; and
• don't know.

More than one response could be provided.

Comparison with the 2008 NATSISS

This topic has undergone substantial revision since 2008. The major revisions include:

• Removal of all household level questions relating to computers and the internet. All questions in 2014–15 were at the person level; and
• Revision of concepts as technology has developed.

The following data items were new in 2014–15, and are unable to be compared to 2008:

• Types of government services accessed via the internet for private purposes in last 12 months; and
• Frequency of internet access at home in last 12 months.

The following data items have had some revisions to question wording and response options. However, some comparisons are possible:

• Whether used internet in last 12 months;
• Whether used internet at home in last 12 months (some comparison can be made using the 2008 data item 'where used internet in last 12 months'); and
• Sites where internet accessed with supplied equipment in last 12 months (some comparison can be made using the 2008 data item 'where used internet in last 12 months').

Users should consult the respective questionnaires in order to make appropriate comparisons between 2008 and 2014–15. It should be noted that the context and intention of the questions in 2014–15 took into account the widespread use of technologies such as wi-fi and the use of internet on telephones and other devices.

The following information was collected in 2008, but was not collected in 2014–15:

• Whether used computer in last 12 months;
• Where used computer in last 12 months;
• Reasons for using computer in last 12 months — adult;
• Reasons for using computer in last 12 months — child;
• Purpose of Internet use in last 12 months;
• Types of telephones used by household members in past month;
• Whether child usually spends more than 2 hours per day being inactive;
• Whether any working computers in household;
• Reasons for not having a computer in household;
• Reasons why computer does not work;
• Whether any computers connected to the Internet in household; and
• Main reason for not having an Internet connection in household.