About the data

Information in this section has been drawn from a number of sources.

Data on computers, Internet and children’s game playing is sourced from Household Use of Information Technology (cat. no. 8146.0), Internet Activity (cat. no. 8153.0) and Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities (cat. no. 4901.0), published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The most recent Household Use of Information Technology (HUIT) publication presents data collected from the Multi-Purpose Household Survey (MPHS) for 2006/07. Data on HUIT was previously collected by the ABS in the Population Survey Monitor (1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000), Survey of Education, Training and Information Technology (2001), General Social Survey (2002), National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey (2002), Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (2003), Children's Participation in Culture and Leisure Activities Surveys (2003 and 2006) and the MPHS (2004/05 and 2005/06). The MPHS, conducted as a supplement to the monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS), included a HUIT module in 2006/07. The survey collected information from 17,040 randomly selected households across Australian, in which one randomly selected person per household was asked about their household's access to, and their own use of, computers and the Internet.

The most recent Internet Activity publication covers a survey period of the three months ending 31 December 2007 and contains data from all Internet service providers (ISPs) operating in Australia as at 31 December 2007. It includes information on Internet subscribers and their type of connection, the type of user (business/household), the volume of data downloaded, the speed of the Internet connection and the location of the subscriber (by state or territory). The frequency of this publication reduced from quarterly to half-yearly with the September 2001 issue and was suspended after the March 2005 issue in order for the ABS to undertake a review of the survey. Full coverage recommenced on an annual basis from September 2006, with a reduced scope collection each March. From 2007, to align with Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) requirements, the reference period is a December quarter, and the reduced scope collection a June quarter.

The most recent Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities publication is based on a survey conducted throughout Australia in April 2006 as part of the Monthly Population Survey (MPS). It is the third on the topic of children's participation in culture and leisure; the previous two surveys were conducted in April 2000 and April 2003. The survey collected information on children's participation in selected organised cultural activities and organised sports outside of school hours during the 12 months prior to interview, as well as on use of computers and the Internet during and outside school hours over the same 12-month period. Similar to earlier surveys, information was also collected on participation in selected leisure activities outside of school hours during the most recent two school weeks prior to interview.

Paul Budde Communication is a telecommunications and information technology research company and consultancy, which has provided unpublished research data to Screen Australia.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has been the Australian Government regulator for broadcasting, Internet, radiocommunications and telecommunications since 2005. It published the ACMA Communications Report for 2005/06 and 2006/07. This report provides an overview of the industry and draws on data from a range of sources, including ACMA’s own databases and research using third-party sources, information reported by the industry, and commissioned surveys and analysis.

The Online Advertising Expenditure Report is a quarterly industry survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia. Data and information is reported directly to PwC by companies operating in the Australian marketplace which sell online advertising for over 1,000 websites.

GfK Marketing Australia is part of the Retail and Technology Division of the GfK Group, which monitors product sales and market trends. The company tracks sales of video and games software and hardware through major retailers such as Big W, Kmart, Toys ‘R’ Us, Myer, HMV, ABC Shops, David Jones, Bing Lee, Harvey Norman and The Good Guys, claiming to cover around 85 per cent of all retailers in Australia.

The annual reports of the Australian Government’s Classification Board and Classification Review Board (formerly the Office of Film and Literature Classification) include data on the number of games classified by the board in various categories and on their country of origin.

The Australian Visual Software Distributors Association (AVSDA) represents the interests of owners of copyright in, and distributors of, videos in Australia. From 1995 to 2001 they compiled data on the wholesale games market from their interactive software members, which included the major Australian distributors of games. This data is no longer available.

The publication Australian TV Trends previously issued by ACNielsen contained information about the amount of time spent playing games in Australian homes. This data is no longer available.