The Government has released new research on the levels of online copyright infringement in Australia and why people choose to download content illegally. 22 July 2015 The research shows Australia has high levels of online copyright infringement.

TNS Australia conducted a survey for the department between 25 March and 13 April 2015. It was closely based on surveys undertaken by the United Kingdom Government, so the results for the two countries could be compared.

The objectives for this research were: to understand the prevalence of online copyright infringement in Australia across four core content types (music, video games, movies and TV programmes); to understand what attitudes drive online copyright infringement behaviours; and to determine the role pricing plays in lawful and unlawful access of online content. The survey asked respondents to think about activities they had undertaken in the past 3 months, which broadly corresponds to January-March 2015.

Over 2,630 Australians aged 12 and over were interviewed. The research shows that Australians are consuming a significant amount of digital content, with 60 per cent having done so during the survey period across four main content types surveyed: movies, music, TV programmes and video games. Four in ten content consumers, or 43 per cent, had consumed at least some illegal files (compared to 21 per cent in the UK). This represents a quarter of all Australian internet users, or 26 per cent.