Australia is a country known for its surfing culture, though a recent study has revealed waves aren’t the only thing a lot of us surf for leisure. 
Seven in ten households (72 per cent) spent time online at home during 2008-09, more than four times higher than a decade ago (16 per cent in 1998), according to the latest Australian Social Trends released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Most households with children under the age of 15 had access to the internet (86 per cent), compared with two thirds (66 per cent) of households without children.
It seems children aged 5-14 years have become the digital generation.
In 2009, four in five children aged 5-14 years used the internet – nearly all at home, mostly for educational activities (85 per cent) and online games (69 per cent), but also for listening to or downloading music (47 per cent) or social networking (22 per cent).
The report also revealed that Australian workers want more leisure time.
One in five Australian workers (21 per cent) want to work less, with most wanting more time for social and recreational pursuits.
While most workers are happy with their usual hours, one in five (21 per cent) preferred to work fewer hours, saying they wanted more time for social and recreational activities, for `free’ time or for their family.
People already working full-time, workers with children and men were People already working full-time, workers with children and men were among those most likely to be overemployed. Workers who were managers and professionals were most likely to want to work less hours. 
While managers and professionals may want to work less, those in white collar jobs were amongst the healthiest workers and least likely to suffer a work-related injury.
It’s not all hard work and no play though, with nearly nine in ten Australians aged 15 years and over attending at least one cultural venue or event in 2009-10 and around two in three participating in sport or physical recreation at least once in the same period.
Going to the cinema continued to be Australia’s most popular cultural activity for those aged 15 years and over, with two thirds attending.
Walking for exercise was the most popular sports and physical recreational activity for almost one in four Australians (23 per cent) in 2009-10.
Quartile Research
