Who is online
- Nearly all Australian adults (99%) have access to the internet.
- 91% of Australian adults have a home internet connection, and three-quarters of these have an NBN connection.
- In the first half of 2021, almost all (98%) older Australians aged 55+ used the internet, up from 76% in 2019, prior to COVID-19 lockdowns.
The devices we use
- Mobile phones were the most commonly used device to connect to the internet. 93% of Australians used a mobile phone to go online in the 6 months to June 2021, up from 84% in 2017.
- Younger Australians were more likely to use a mobile phone, laptop, TV or smart TV, digital media player or a portable games console to access the internet.
- Older Australians were more likely to use a tablet or desktop computer.
What we do online
- Almost half of adult internet users (45%) worked from home online, while one-third (32%) studied at home over the internet.
- Use of online telehealth and professional (e.g., legal/financial) consultations increased to 41% and 16% respectively in 2021.
- The proportion of Australians undertaking gambling activities online grew significantly from the previous survey.
- E-commerce is firmly established in Australia. 85% of Australian adults bought goods or services online, while 37% sold goods or services online.
- In the 3 months to 30 June 2021, we downloaded 8.8 million terabytes (TB) of data over fixed networks. This was up 19% from the same quarter in 2020 (7.4 million TB).
About the report
This report is part of the ACMA research program, which provides evidence to inform our decision-making.
View information about the methodology used for the report.
Accessing the data
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