Fed: Who you are not where you live makes digital divide: study

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2000
Fed: Who you are not where you live makes digital divide: study

CANBERRA, Aug 24 AAP - The idea of a city-country digital divide has been shot down
by a new study which found income, education, and age were closely connected to Internet
access.

The University of Canberra report found income was the biggest factor in determining
Internet access at home, followed by tertiary qualification, age, and the presence of
children aged over 10.

Internet take-up increased markedly once household income passed the $35,000 mark,
while adults with a university degree were 2.3 times more likely to be on-line than their
less-educated counterparts.

People aged under 55 and households with children aged over 10 were twice as likely
to have the Internet at home.

The report, conducted by the university's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling,
also found the lowest Internet connection rates were in regional towns and cities rather
than households in the bush.

And while rural households' connection rates still lagged behind those in the city,
the study concluded geography was not to blame.

"Once other factors are taken into account, region on its own has no significant impact
on Internet take-up at home," the report said.

"The observed differences between metropolitan, other urban and rural areas can be
explained by the socio-demographic characteristics of the population, particularly ...

lower qualification levels and lower incomes."

The report comes amid debate on telecommunications service levels in the bush, with
the government hoping for a tick from the Besley inquiry next month to give it momentum
for the full privatisation of Telstra.

It is also preparing to remove Telstra's monopoly on providing basic service levels
in regional areas in a bid to improve infrastructure.

But Communications Law Centre director Jock Given called on the government to recognise
the importance of relieving social and economic inequalities as well as infrastructure.

"If you're poor or you lack a good education then it's not going to make much difference
how many satellites we put in the sky or how many cables run past your house," he said
at the launch of the report in Canberra.

"A broader and more complex social policy agenda is going to be necessary if Australia
is going to address the root causes of this digital divide."

The study was commissioned by Telstra and based on data collected by the Australian
Bureau of Statistics and KPMG's Centre for Consumer Behaviour.

AAP kmh/daw/mk

KEYWORD: INTERNET

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