Menu toggle

Communications and media in Australia: Methodology

We used the following methodology to produce these interactive reports from the Communications and media in Australia series:

  • How we use the internet
  • How we communicate
  • How we watch and listen to content.

Guidelines for reading the interactive reports

The Communications and media in Australia interactive reports present the key findings and trends across the surveys conducted from 2017 to 2022.

  • All percentages are based on weighted survey estimates.
  • All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. As a result, there may be discrepancies between sums of the component items in a table or chart, and the total.
  • Base sizes are shown as the unweighted number of respondents on which the weighted estimates and proportions are based.
  • Categories with low sample sizes (less than n=100 interviews) should be interpreted with caution.  
  • Terminology of ‘use of an activity’ in key findings refers to measuring prevalence of an activity being undertaken, rather than frequency (that is, the proportion of the population that have undertaken activity at all in the relevant time period). 
  • All key findings highlight results that have been tested for statistical significance at the 95% confidence level.
  • The ACMA annual consumer survey research:
    • often asked about ‘the past 6 months’ – this is the period before the data was collected. For the 2022 survey, this broadly represents the period from December 2021 to June 2022
    • included some questions that were filtered depending on the respondent’s previous responses (for example, the question about how often specific devices were used to access the internet was only asked of those who reported in an earlier question that they had used that device to access the internet in the 6 months before the survey). This is noted in descriptive language in the chart’s ‘base’ notes and the corresponding methodology tables. Care needs to be taken when interpreting the results so that the data is read in the correct context
    • included some questions that invited a multiple response, so the total responses may sum to more than 100%
    • does not show or excludes ‘don’t know’, ‘refused’ and other responses with only small levels of responses in some cases. These are noted under the charts in the digital report
    • may include some responses, such as the average number of services reported by respondents each year (for example, online video and music streaming), that can be affected by the services that are on the prompted survey list and services that were recalled unprompted. Additional responses recorded under ‘some other service (please specify)’ can be back-coded into a new category and then counted in the number of services used. This may have a small impact on comparisons across years. New categories may also be included in the prompted list of services in subsequent years.

ACMA annual consumer survey

The ACMA annual consumer survey provides information on:

  • consumer behaviour
  • adoption of, and attitudes towards, media and communications services
  • the effectiveness of regulatory interventions.

This research is part of the ACMA research program, which gathers evidence that informs our decisions as a regulator, and ensures we are up to date on market developments and consumer trends.

From 2017 to 2022, the ACMA-commissioned research was undertaken by The Social Research Centre (SRC) using the SRC’s probability-based online panel, Life in Australia (LinA). While most respondents completed the survey online, LinA also included people without internet access or who are not comfortable completing surveys online, who completed the survey by phone.

The survey data is representative of the Australian population aged 18 and over.

Table 1: Summary of key statistics, 2017 to 2022

 

Jun 2017

May 2018

May 2019

Jun 2020

Jun 2021

Jun 2022

Total sample

2,277

2,107

2,067

2,009

3,586*

3,580*

Online interviews

1,965

1,842

1,824

1,913

3,440

3,453

Telephone interviews

312

265

243

96

148

127

Fieldwork dates

16 May – 4 June

14–27 May

6–19 May

9–21 June

15–28 June

14–27 June

Interview duration (average)

20

25

20

25

19

22

Note: The 2021 and 2022 total sample size was increased to enable more robust analysis of smaller survey subgroups.  

Table 2: Sample profile of respondents who completed the surveys (unweighted), 2017 to 2022

 

Jun 2017

May 2018

May 2019

Jun 2020

Jun 2021

Jun 2022

Total

2,277

2,107

2,067

2,009

3,586

3,580

Male

1,055

974

971

879

1,564

1,560

Female

1,217

1,129

1,090

1,124

2,010

2,001

18–24 years

136

108

91*

81*

151

140

25–34 years

292

251

254

265

474

399

35–44 years

317

269

299

308

580

558

45–54 years

386

369

370

311

580

579

55–64 years

500

434

404

417

702

697

65–74 years

437

465

429

412

735

799

75 years and over

204

207

215

194

361

408

Metropolitan area

1,503

1,379

1,366

1,335

2,387

2,405

Regional area

774

727

701

674

1,199

1,175

Australians aged 18 and over who accessed the internet in the past 6 months

2,181

2,015

1,992

1,984

3,549

3,583

Australians aged 18 and over who used a mobile phone† in the past 6 months

2,230

2,064

2,034

1,982

3,541

3,507

Australians aged 18 and over with household internet access

2,109

1,976

1,994

1,894

3,281

3,341

Australians aged 18 and over who used a fixed line phone in the past 6 months

1,398

1,176

997

788

1,108

1,017

Australians aged 18 and over who watched any TV or online video content in the past 7 days

2,016

1,891

1,929

1,879

3,399

3,419

Australians aged 18 and over who watched any catch-up TV in the past 7 days

464

498

795

813

1,546

1,563

Devices used by Australians aged 18 and over for viewing different services:
  • Free-to-air TV, excluding catch-up TV
 1,697 1,477 1,425 1,316 2,176 2,285
  • 'Pay TV or other subscription TV channels'

589

553

572

443

895

828
  • Paid subscription streaming services (e.g., Netflix)

599

722

1,000

1,086

2,049

2,036
  • Pay-per-view services (e.g., Google Play, Apple TV)

36

40

71

58

221

215
  • Free-to-air TV  catch-up TV and steaming service

464

498

765

813

1,546

1,563
  • Content on an online platform

n/a

719

921

804

1,446

n/a
  • User-generated or short-form online video services

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

1,377

Australians aged 18 and over who listened to the radio in the past 7 days

2,126

1,959

1,894

1,830

3,182

3,185

Australians aged 18 and over who streamed music in the past 7 days

726

843

935

1,153

2,195

2,628

Australians aged 18 and over who listened to podcasts in the past 7 days

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

1,625
Australians aged over 18 who accessed news via social media in past 7 days n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,573

* Sample sizes for Australians aged 18 to 24 are small (n<100 interviews), so these results should be interpreted with caution.

† ‘Used a mobile phone’ includes those who used a mobile phone for calls or text messages.

Note: ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in a state or territory capital city (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, ACT, Hobart, Darwin). ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state or territory (outside the 8 state or territory capital cities), as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Greater Capital City Statistical Area definitions.

Questionnaire changes from 2017 to 2022

The table below details the changes to the ACMA annual consumer survey questions referenced in our published reports. These changes should be taken into consideration when interpreting the findings.

Table 3: ACMA annual consumer survey questionnaire changes from 2017 to 2022

Question
number

Changes

Relevant report

A1
  • ‘Call from a mobile phone’ (2022) was ‘Mobile phone call’ (2017–21).
  • ‘Call from a landline (home) phone’ (2022) was ‘Landline telephone call at home’ (2017–21).
  • ‘Used an app for messages (e.g., Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype)’; ‘Used an app for video calls (e.g., Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype)’, and ‘Used an app for voice calls (e.g., Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype)’ (2019–22) was ‘Messaging/calling app (i.e.. Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype)’ (2017).

How we use the internet, Service used

 

D5
  • 2017–21: ‘Games console (e.g. PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S/X)’ was reported separately as ‘Portable games console (e.g. a PSP or Nintendo Switch)’ and 'Other/Games console (e.g. Xbox, PlayStation or Wii)’.

How we use the internet

Devices connected to the internet

D5

The number of prompted responses:

  • 2017: 9 codes
  • 2018–19: 10 codes (‘Digital media player’ added)
  • 2020: 10 codes (‘Voice controlled smart speaker’ added, ‘mp3 player’ removed)
  • 2021–22: 9 codes.

How we use the internet

D7
  • 2020–21 included new questions on TV ownership with a detailed description of a ‘smart TV’ (QA11).

How we use the internet, Smart devices connected to the internet

F4
  • 'Free-to-air catch-up TV and streaming service’ (2022) was ‘Catch-up TV’ (2017–21).
  • 'Paid subscription streaming service’ (2022) was ‘Online subscriptions services’ (2017–2021).
  • 'Free-to-air TV excluding catch-up TV' (2022) was reported separately as 'Live free-to-air TV' and 'Recorded from free-to-air TV' (2017–2021). 'Recorded from free-to-air TV' is no longer collected or included in 'Free-to-air TV excluding catch-up TV'.
  • 'Pay TV or other subscription TV channels' (2022) was reported separately as 'Foxtel/other subscription channels' and 'Recorded from Foxtel/other subscription TV channels' (2017–2021).

How we watch and listen to content

Viewing behaviours
F5
  • ‘Free-to-air catch-up TV and streaming service’ (2022) was ‘Catch-up TV’ (2017–2021).
  • 'Paid subscription streaming service’ (2022) was ‘Online subscriptions services’ (2017–2021).
  • 'Free-to-air TV excluding catch-up TV' (2022) was reported separately as 'Live free-to-air TV' and 'Recorded from free-to-air TV' (2017–2021). 'Recorded from free-to-air TV' is no longer collected or included in 'Free-to-air TV excluding catch-up TV'.
  • 'Pay TV or other subscription TV channels' (2022) was reported separately as 'Foxtel/other subscription channels' and 'Recorded from Foxtel/other subscription TV channels' (2017–2021).

How we watch and listen to content

Time spent watching video content
F8
  • Question wording changed from online services used to ‘stream or download video content’ (2020) to those used to ‘watch video content’ (2021 onwards).

How we watch and listen to content

Online video services

K1
  • 2019 wording was ‘Lottoland or a similar service betting on the outcome of a lottery’.
  • 2020–21 wording was ‘Lottoland or a similar service betting on results of the financial market indices’.

How we use the internet, Gambling activities performed online

K1
  • ‘Lottoland or a similar service betting on results of the financial market indices’ (2020–22) was ‘Lottoland or a similar service betting on the outcome of a lottery’ (2019).
  • ‘Sports betting (e.g., betting on football) excluding horse or dog racing or e-sports' (2020–22) was ‘Sports betting such as betting on football or e-sports but not including horse or dog racing’ (2019).

How we use the internet, Gambling activities performed online

H4
  • 2021: Music streaming and podcasts were added to the list of responses, previously they were asked as separate questions.
  • 2017–21: 'AM radio' was reported separately as 'AM radio at home or elsewhere' and 'AM radio in the car'.
  • 2017–21: 'FM radio' was reported separately as 'FM radio at home or elsewhere' and 'FM radio in the car'.

How we watch and listen to content

Time spent listening

Note: Wording of questions and examples listed for some categories are updated over time to reflect consumer and market changes and/or regulatory priorities.

Privacy and standards

This research was undertaken in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles contained therein, the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021, the Research Society Code of Professional Behaviour and ISO 20252 quality standards.

Fieldwork was undertaken in complete compliance with the Telecommunications (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017 and all other relevant industry standards.

2022 ACMA annual consumer survey questionnaire (251.17 KB)
Last updated: 15 February 2023
print Print this page
Services
Useful links
Our other websites
Back to top
ONLINE ENQUIRY