8150.0 - Use of the Internet on Farms, Australia, 2007-08 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/08/2009   
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INTRODUCTION

  • This release presents statistics on the use of the Internet on farms for business operations in Australia. The data were obtained from a question included in the 2007-08 Agricultural Resource Management Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Information obtained was in respect of the year ended 30 June 2008.
  • A farm is a business coded to an 'agricultural' industry or a business which has indicated they undertake agricultural activities, with an estimated value of agricultural operations (EVAO) of $5,000 or more. These estimates refer to the farm's use of the Internet for business operations.
  • The industry classification used in this release differs from previous issues which used the 1993 version of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). This classification has been revised. The estimates in this release are based on the ANZSIC 2006 edition. For these reasons, these estimates are not directly comparable with estimates from previous years. For more information, see paragraphs 3-11 of the Explanatory Notes.
  • This is an electronic release of Use of the Internet on Farms, Australia. All available data is contained in the accompanying datacubes, including use of the Internet on farms by Statistical Division.


HIGHLIGHTS
  • In 2007-08, 66% of farms were using the Internet for business operations.
  • 48% of farms used a broadband connection.
  • Use of the Internet across states and territories ranged from 74% in the Australian Capital Territory to 59% in Tasmania.
Use of the Internet on farms for business operations, by States and Territories, 2007-08
Graph: Use of the Internet on farms by States and Territories, 2007–08

  • The Australian Capital Territory had the highest proportion of broadband users with 62%. Northern Territory was the second highest with 55% of farms using a broadband connection.
  • Tasmania had the highest non-use of the Internet at 41%. Tasmania also had the lowest proportion of broadband users with only 42%.
Farm use of dial-up and broadband, 2007-08
Graph: Farms use of dial-up and broadband, 2007–08

  • Use of dial-up internet connections were significantly lower than broadband connections across all States and Territories, with the average for Australia at 17%. South Australia had the highest dial-up rate with 21%.
  • 90% of all farms with an estimated value of agricultural operations (EVAO) of $1m or more used the Internet for business operations. There was a strong relationship between farm size, as measured by EVAO, and the use of the Internet.

Use of the Internet on farms for business operations(a), by selected indicators: 2007-08

All farms
Farms using the Internet
No internet use
no.
no.
%
no.
%

States and Territories
New South Wales
44 500
28 417
64
16 083
36
Victoria
34 257
21 258
62
12 998
38
Queensland
29 192
19 637
67
9 555
33
South Australia
15 044
10 567
70
4 477
30
Western Australia
13 135
9 524
73
3 611
27
Tasmania
4 211
2 483
59
1 729
41
Northern Territory
605
435
72
^169
28
Australian Capital Territory
82
61
74
^21
26
Industry
Agriculture
Nursery and Floriculture Production
1 947
1 448
74
499
26
Mushroom and Vegetable Growing
4 562
2 390
52
2 172
48
Fruit and Tree Nut Growing
13 814
9 765
71
4 050
29
Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming
87 001
56 245
65
30 757
35
Other Crop Growing
4 915
3 490
71
1 425
29
Dairy Cattle Farming
8 793
5 814
66
2 979
34
Poultry Farming
1 284
890
69
394
31
Deer Farming
*138
*117
85
21
15
Other Livestock Farming
3 444
2 503
73
941
27
Agriculture
125 898
82 661
66
43 237
34
All other industries
15 128
9 721
64
5 407
36
EVAO
$0-$49,999
58 907
33 475
57
25 432
43
$50,000-$149,999
35 056
21 823
62
13 233
38
$150,000-$249,999
15 930
11 354
71
4 577
29
$250,000-$499,999
16 882
13 296
79
3 585
21
$500,000-$999,999
9 313
7 985
86
1 328
14
$1m or more
4 938
4 450
90
489
10
Total
141 026
92 383
66
48 644
34

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) Percentages are of all farms.



NO INTERNET USE FOR BUSINESS OPERATIONS

The map below depicts farms not using the Internet for business operations, by Statistical Division. Most smaller farms located around urban areas are less likely to use the Internet for business operations. A higher proportion of farms in remote areas use the Internet for business operations. This highlights the strong relationship between farm size, as measured by EVAO, and the use of the Internet for business operations.

Diagram: NO INTERNET USE


ROUNDING

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the components and the total. Proportions have been calculated using unrounded data.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Tim Landrigan on Perth (08) 9360 5104.