How we use the internet: Methodology

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.

The ACMA-commissioned research was undertaken by The Social Research Centre (SRC) using the SRC’s probability-based online panel, Life in Australia^TM (LinA). LinA includes people with and without internet access. Those without internet access or who are not comfortable completing surveys online are able to complete surveys by phone.

The consumer survey methodology used a mixed-mode approach, comprising:

• online interviews with Australian adults
• computer-aided phone interviews of adults who are not regularly online.

The surveys represented the Australian population aged 18 and over.

Table 1: ACMA consumer survey summary of key statistics, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020

Roy Morgan Research’s Single Source database is based on interviews with Australians aged 18 and over conducted between July 2016 to June 2020. The data is weighted to represent up to 19.8 million Australians as at June 2020.

Figures in the report refer to 12-month periods ending June (financial year).

Table 2: Roy Morgan Single Source research sample sizes for Australians aged 18 and over in the 12 months to June for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020

More information is available online on the Roy Morgan Single Source Survey.

The tables below show the research sample sizes for the charts used in the report.

Table 3: Research sample sizes for Australian adults who live in households with internet access (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Australian adults aged 18 and over.

QA2. Does your household have internet access? Yes; No; Don’t know; Refused.  

Notes:

1. ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.
2. Responses to this question may over-estimate the number of people with an internet connection to the household as responses may include internet accessed using any type of connection and any device, including mobile data via mobile phone.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2017 to 2020.

Table 4: Research sample sizes for Australian adults who live in households with a fixed home broadband internet connection by type (by all respondents and location, 12 months to June for 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Households with a fixed home broadband internet connection (does not include mobile phone or mobile broadband).

Q. Which home broadband connection does your household have?

Notes:

1. ‘Capital cities’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities, excluding Darwin. ‘Regional areas’ refers to those who live outside Australian capital cities but includes Darwin.
2. Changes to Roy Morgan Single Source due to COVID-19: From mid-March 2020, Roy Morgan’s Single Source Product Poll survey transitioned from a paper-based book to an online self-complete survey. Respondents for this survey are recruited from the Roy Morgan Establishment survey. The Establishment survey also transitioned from solely face-to-face interviewing in March 2020 to a multi-mode approach of landline, mobile phone, online and (when available post-COVID) face-to-face interviewing. This approach is designed to provide the best possible sample frame to represent all Australians aged 14+.

Questions asked about fixed home internet connection type remained consistent throughout the transition to ensure results could be effectively analysed over time. In addition, weighting remained consistent through the transition.

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source.

Table 5: Research sample sizes for Australian adults who used or did not use the internet in the past 6 months (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Australian adults aged 18 and over.

QD5. Which of the following devices have you used to access the internet in the past 6 months, for personal use? Desktop computer; Laptop computer; Mobile phone; Tablet like an iPad; eReader like Amazon (Kindle), Kobo; Portable games console – for example, PSP or Nintendo Switch; Other games console – for example Xbox, PlayStation or Wii; Television or Smart TV; Personal video recorder (PVR) such as Foxtel IQ, Fetch or similar device; Digital media player such as Chromecast, Apple TV or Fetch; Voice-controlled smart speakers such as Google Home, Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod; Something else (please specify); None/don’t use internet (exclusive); Don’t know (exclusive); Refused (exclusive). .

Note: ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2017 to 2020.

Table 6: Research sample sizes for Australian adults who used a device to access the internet in the past 6 months, and by type of device (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Australian adults who used a device to access the internet in the past 6 months for personal use.

QD6. On average, in the past 6 months how often did you use the following devices to access the internet for personal purposes? Statements: Desktop computer; Laptop computer; Mobile phone; Tablet like an iPad; eReader like Amazon (Kindle), Kobo; Portable games console – for example, a PSP or Nintendo Switch; Other games console – for example, Xbox, PlayStation or Wii; Television or Smart TV; Personal video recorder (PVR) such as Foxtel IQ, Fetch or similar device; Digital media player such as Chromecast, Apple TV or Fetch; Voice-controlled smart speakers such as Google Home, Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod; Something else (response from QD5 for something else). Responses: Multiple times a day; Once a day; Weekly; Monthly; Less often than monthly; Never; Don’t know; Refused.

Note: ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2017 to 2020.

5. Number of devices connected to the internet

Table 7: Research sample sizes for number of types of devices used to access the internet in the past 6 months (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Australian adults who used a device to access the internet in the past 6 months for personal use.

QD5. Which of the following devices have you used to access the internet in the past 6 months, for personal use? See Table 5 notes for response options.

Note: ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2017 to 2020.

Table 8: Research sample sizes for Australian adults who had an internet-connected smart device, and number of types of smart devices (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Australian adults aged 18 and over.

QD7. Which of the following smart devices do you have connected to the internet? This excludes computers, tablets and mobile phones. Smart TV; Smart fridge; Wearable devices such as smart watches or a Fitbit; Smart lighting; Security cameras; Security system; Smart dishwasher; Heating or cooling system; Voice-controlled smart speakers such as Google Home, Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod; GPS tracking tag or device; Something else (please specify); None/don’t use internet (exclusive).

QA11. What type of television(s) do you have in your home? Smart TV; Standard TV; Don’t know; Refused.

Notes:

1. Smart TV ownership was asked as a separate question in 2020, including a detailed description of types of television. ‘Smart TV’, ‘Total used’ and ‘None’ are not directly comparable to responses on smart devices in previous years.
2. ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.
3. ‘Don’t know’ and ‘Refused’ answers not shown in charts, therefore data may not add to 100.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2017 to 2020.

Table 9: Research sample sizes for frequency of internet use by Australian adults (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2017 to 2020)

Chart base: Australian adults who used a device to access the internet in the past 6 months for personal use.

QD6. On average, in the past 6 months how often did you use the following devices to access the internet for personal purposes? See Table 6 notes for response options.  

Note. ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2017 to 2020.

9. Volume of data downloaded

For more information, you can access the Internet Activity Record Keeping Rule (RKR) content on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's website. 

Table 10: Research sample sizes for activities performed online in the past 6 months (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2019 to 2020)

‘Don’t know’ and ‘refused’ responses are excluded from analysis.

Chart base: Australian adults who used a device to access the internet in the past 6 months for personal use.

QD8. Below is a range of internet-based activities. Please indicate whether or not you have done any of the following in the past 6 months at home or elsewhere. See Table 11 for response options.

Note: ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2019 to 2020.

11. Changes to internet activities since COVID-19

Table 11: Research sample sizes for change in participation in online activities undertaken since COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in March 2020 (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2020)

*2019 wording was ‘general web browsing or gathering information’.

Statements (for internet-based activity categories) reflect wording from the 2020 survey.

‘Don’t know’ and ‘refused’ responses are excluded from analysis.

Sample sizes for online gambling by age group, gender and location and legal, financial or other professional consultation online for Australian adults living in regional locations are small (n<100 interviews). These results should be interpreted with caution.

Chart base: Australian adults who participated in at least one internet activity in the past 6 months and accessed the internet in the past 6 months for personal use.

QD8. Below is a range of internet-based activities. Please indicate whether or not you have done any of the following in the past 6 months at home or elsewhere. See Table 11 for response options.

QD17. Since the COVID-19 social and physical distancing restrictions were introduced in March 2020, how has your participation in the following activities changed, or has it stayed about the same? It has decreased; It has stayed about the same; It has increased; First started this activity since March 2020; Don’t know; Refused.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2020.

12. Main source of news

For more information, you can access the News and Media Research Centre – Digital News Report: Australia on the University of Canberra's website. 

13. Gambling activities performed online

Table 12: Research sample sizes for gambling activities performed online in the past 6 months (by all respondents, age group, gender and location, 2019 to 2020)

For the category 'Sports betting (incl. eSports)':

• for 2019, the response wording was 'Sports betting such as betting on football or eSports but not including horse or dog racing’
• for 2020, the responses to ‘Sports betting such as football (not including horse or dog racing, or eSports)’ and ‘Betting on eSports’ are combined.

Chart base (right side): Australian adults who participated in online gambling or purchasing lottery tickets in the past 6 months and accessed the internet in the past 6 months for personal use.

QK1. Which of the following gambling activities, if any, have you undertaken online in the past 6 months? Lottery such as Oz Lotto, Powerball etc.; Lottoland or a similar service betting on results of the financial market indices; Pokies/slots; Sports betting such as betting on football (not including horse or dog racing, or eSports); Betting on fantasy sports; Betting on racing such as horse or dog races; Poker; Casino-style table games (excluding poker); Betting on eSports; Other (please specify); None of these (exclusive); Don’t know; Refused.

Note: ‘Metropolitan’ refers to those who live in Australian capital cities and ‘Regional’ refers to those who live in the rest of the state, as defined by the ABS’s Greater Capital City Statistical Area definition.

Source: ACMA annual consumer survey, 2019 to 2020.

The key findings in the Communications and media in Australia: How we use the internet interactive report describe the data and show how we interpret it.

Results from the data sets were analysed using:

• descriptive analysis techniques
• demographics, including age, gender and locational factors.

Guidelines for reading the digital report:

• All percentages are based on weighted survey estimates.
• All percentage labels 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. 
• 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 2020 survey, this was from approximately December 2019 to June 2020.
  • Included some questions that have been filtered depending on the respondent’s previous responses (for example, a question asked only of those who undertook an internet activity in the past 6 months). 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. Total responses may sum to more than 100%.
  • In some cases, ‘don’t know’, ‘refused’ and other responses with only small levels of responses are not shown or excluded from the analysis. These are noted in the methodology tables.