The Government has released the results of the 2020 online copyright infringement survey.
This latest survey shows that Australians continue to primarily turn to lawful services to access online music, video games, live sport, movies and TV, with streaming services the go-to for many Australians. Unlawful consumption remains well below 2015 levels.
The survey was conducted online* and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when people spent more time at home. The top line results from 2400 responses showed that:
- engagement with online content has significantly increased since 2015.
- levels of lawful consumption online continue on an upward trend from the commencement of the survey in 2015, despite some variances between content types.
- Australians are more confident in identifying what is lawful online, with over 80% of respondents at least 'quite confident' they can tell what is lawful online.
- when looking for new content, internet (Google) search is the most common first step. Searching in an online store was the next most common.
- when encountering a blocked site with unlawful content, an increasing number of respondents sought alternative lawful access.
A minority of Australians continue to consume content unlawfully and is most common in the 12–24 age group, and amongst males. Movies and TV shows were more likely to be accessed unlawfully by older age groups.
*The latest survey was modified to reflect contemporary content consumption methods and behaviours, as well as certain changes to the methodology. Comparisons to the 2015–19 data series should be made with caution.
Find out more
Results of the 2020 survey and changes in methodology are available from: