MEDIA RELEASE
20 June 2013	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	112/2013

Australian businesses received orders worth an estimated $237 billion via the internet in 2011-12, an increase of 25 per cent from the previous year, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Assistant Director of the Innovation and Technology Statistics Branch, Lesley Martin said the estimate comes from orders which are received from Australian households, businesses and government, as well as orders received from overseas customers.

"Our data show there has been an increase in the proportion of businesses placing orders via the internet, up from 51 per cent in 2010-11 to 55 per cent in 2011-12," Ms Martin said.

The publication includes information about how Australian businesses are using IT as well as innovation activity.

"We found that 47 per cent of businesses reported that they had undertaken innovative activity during the year ended 30 June 2012," she said.

"Larger Australian businesses have led the charge with innovation. Three quarters of these businesses introduced, developed and/or abandoned some type of innovation during 2011-12.

"Also, large businesses were twice as likely to report the introduction of innovation than businesses with 0 to 4 persons employed," Ms Martin said.

Overall, the number of businesses that reported the introduction of at least one type of innovation has increased from 33 per cent of businesses in 2010-11, to 41 per cent of businesses in 2011-12.

"Most businesses reported that they had introduced a new organisational or managerial process," Ms Martin said.

Further information is available in Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business (cat. no. 8166.0) available for free at www.abs.gov.au.

Media Notes:

• The ABS classifies large businesses as businesses with 200 or more employees.
• Innovation-active businesses are those that undertook any innovative activity during the reference period. This includes businesses that introduced or abandoned any of the four types of innovation (new or significantly improved goods or services, operational processes, organisational/managerial processes, marketing methods) during the period and those that had any of the types of innovation still in development at the end of the period.
• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.