Aussie Online Addiction Costs Employers
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A new report out by Sensis shows that Australians are costing their employers money by spending too much time on social networks during work time, and at home a significant number of parents are not keeping tabs on their children’s internet habits.


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Over 30 percent of children under the age of 15 are left unsupervised on the computer, which can be dangerous for those left open to dodgy websites on the net. The up side is that 4 in 10 households do use internet filters.

Also on the downside is the 20 percent of employees who spend company time on social networks such as Myspace and Facebook. 

“But at the same time, we are seeing many businesses clamp down on employees using [these] sites,” report author Christena Singh said. “Whether we love or loath new technology, it appears Australians can’t stay away from its allure.”
With social networking sites as a whole, seven out of 10 Australians in their 20s use these sites, and the drop-off rate is exponential as age increases, and taper off at less than one in 10 for over 65s.

Mobile technology has also been embraced including six out of 10 using a mobile e-mail device mainly for work, with half of those surveyed saying they respond to work-related e-mails in their personal time, either always or most of the time.

Other interesting facts is an increase in notebook computers amongst small businesses (up 10 percent to 60 percent); 84 percent of households are internet enabled with 73 percent having broadband connections; six in 10 Australians (64 per cent) made purchases online in the past year; an increase in businesses with websites (up 3 percent to 54 percent); while interestingly, more Australians supplied personal information online during the year (up four percentage points to 38 per cent).