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     New Zealand

This page looks at digital divides in New Zealand.

It covers -

• background
• key statistics
• trajectory
• studies

     background

Conceptualisation of digital divides in New Zealand is a reminder for Australians that questions of access and use should not be reduced to debate about the adequacy of rural infrastructure.

The New Zealand population is roughly a quarter of that of Australia, in a country that is less than 5% of the latter's area. Like Australia there has been a substantial movement from rural areas (particularly remote rural areas) over the past fifty years and by 2001 only 14% of New Zealanders lived in the 'bush'. Thinking about 'the digital divide' in New Zealand has centred on opportunities for access (eg through schools and community centres) and variation in access associated with geography, income, ethnicity, age and education.

In 2000 the government's aspiration statement indicated that

all New Zealanders, either as individuals or as members of communities, have the opportunity to access and effectively use current and emerging information and communications technologies. This will enable individuals and communities to participate fully in the economic, social, educational, cultural and democratic opportunities available in an information society.

The December 2000 Closing the Digital Divide report offers New Zealand government perspectives on the nature of digital divides within the country and the shape of particular responses, primarily education and access through community centres.

Barbara Crump & Andrea McIlroy note in a 2003 paper on The digital divide: Why the "don’t-want-tos" won’t compute: Lessons from a New Zealand ICT Project that the NZ government's 2002 Connecting Communities: A strategy for Government support of community access to information and communications technology identified

those more likely than others to be left behind in the information revolution. These groups include Maori and Pacific peoples, those on low incomes, sole parents, older people, people with no or low qualifications or poor literacy, the unemployed, people with disabilities and people living in rural areas that lack a sound telecommunications structure.

A snapshot of key indicators as of 2001 is here.

     key statistics

In 2004 Statistics New Zealand, the national statistics agency, noted differences in access to telecommunications. It indicated that

• 4% of households did not have access to a landline phone, fax or the net
• 47% of households owned a computer as of 2001, up from 7% in 1986 (see Graph 2 of the PDF here).
• 40% of households had net access in their dwelling.
• households in metropolitan centres were more likely to have access.
• households with lower rates of internet access than the NZ average included the poor (1 in 9 of those with an income of NZ$10,001 to NZ$15,000 had access to the Internet), single parent families (30% have access), single person households (16% have access) and households who rented from a government agency (10% had access).
• people of Maori or Pacific ethnicity had lower household access (25% and 20% respectively had access).
• age also continued to be important, with 1 in 6 people aged 65 years and over living in households with net access.

The 2004 government Digital Divide report on characteristics that influence household net connection indicated that -

• total household income had the single largest effect on whether a household would be connected, with the proportion of households having net access rising with total income.
• the proportion of households with personal computers increased with income, as did net expenditure.
• education qualification was the second most important variable determining whether a household was connected
• single-person households and single-parent households with dependent children were less likely than all other household types to access the net at home.
• 50% of households with two children under the age of 15 were connected, in contrast to households with no children where only one in three was connected.
• age was a significant variable, with access levels declining significantly in the older age groups. Households with a youngest occupant in the 10-14 years age cohort were most likely (56%) to have access.
• households with a home computer peaked at 63% for households with at least one person in the 45-54 age cohort.
• households with at least one person who identified as Asian were more likely than all other households analysed by ethnicity to record having a home computer and report net expenditure.
• When the effects of income were removed, household access was the same regardless of whether the occupants were in full-time or part-time employment (42%).
• the Auckland and Wellington regions had the greatest proportion of households with access (44%). The West Coast and Gisborne regions were the least connected (25%). Households in the minor urban areas of New Zealand were the least likely to be online, with only 25% connected.

     trajectory

[under development]

     studies

Bronwyn Howell's upbeat 2000 paper The Rural-Urban "Digital Divide" in New Zealand; Fact or Fable? (based on NZ colour pages listings) concluded that there is no significant divide in New Zealand. Remoteness from major urban centres was for example identified as an inducement to engage in e-commerce.

The July 2000 report on Maori Access to Information Technology for the Ministry of Maori Development identified internet access as a key indicator of Maori usage of digital technology. It was based on quarterly ACNielsen surveys and is consistent with a report on The Digital Divide & Maori (PDF) commissioned by the New Zealand Maori Internet Society, a body that has gained most attention with calls for a separate Aotearoa dot-aa ccTLD.

Maori respondents reported significantly lower levels of computer ownership, use of the net and familiarity with the net. The study includes statistics on net usage by Maori business, Maori tertiary computing education, infrastructure and bandwidth availability issues.

The 1998 Toward Network Literacy: Public Access to the World Wide Web in New Zealand’s Public Libraries: A Research Report (here) by Anna Chalmers considered community access points, highlighted in the 2000 report by Marianne Doczi for the Ministry for Economic Development on Information and Communication Technologies and Social and Economic Inclusion - Addressing the Social and Economic Implications of Limited E-Literacy and Access to Information and Communication Technologies.

Delwyn Clark's 2001 study Net Readiness in New Zealand Industries: Empirical Results offers a broad analysis of connectivity and net use in the business services, education, exporting, manufacturing, primary production, retailing, tourism and transportation sectors, building on an earlier study

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