{
  "version": 2,
  "name": "The Australian Small Business AI & Digital Index",
  "updatedAt": "2026-10-01",
  "indicators": [
    {
      "id": "ai-adoption-au",
      "theme": "AI adoption",
      "label": "Australians (14+) using AI tools in an average four weeks",
      "value": "58%",
      "detail": "13.6 million people, March quarter 2026",
      "asOf": "2026-03",
      "sourceName": "Roy Morgan",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10248-artificial-intelligence-ai-tools-usage-march-2026",
      "quote": "13.6 million people, equivalent to 58% of Australians aged 14+, use ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) tools in an average four weeks",
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "stale": false,
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2026-03",
          "value": "58%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "chatgpt-usage-au",
      "theme": "AI adoption",
      "label": "Australians using ChatGPT, the most-used AI tool",
      "value": "45%",
      "detail": "10.5 million Australians, March quarter 2026",
      "asOf": "2026-03",
      "sourceName": "Roy Morgan",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10248-artificial-intelligence-ai-tools-usage-march-2026",
      "quote": "10.5 million Australians (45%) using ChatGPT",
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "stale": false,
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2026-03",
          "value": "45%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ndb-notifications-h1-2025",
      "theme": "Data security",
      "label": "Notifiable data breaches reported to the OAIC, January–June 2025",
      "value": "532",
      "detail": "a 10% decrease on the previous six months",
      "asOf": "2025-06",
      "sourceName": "OAIC Notifiable Data Breaches statistics",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.oaic.gov.au/news/blog/latest-notifiable-data-breach-statistics-for-january-to-june-2025",
      "quote": "In the January–June 2025 reporting period, we received 532 data breach notifications, a 10% decrease compared with the previous 6 months",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2025-06",
          "value": "532",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ndb-health-share",
      "theme": "Data security",
      "label": "Share of breach notifications from the health sector, the most-breached sector",
      "value": "18%",
      "detail": "of 532 notifications, January–June 2025",
      "asOf": "2025-06",
      "sourceName": "OAIC Notifiable Data Breaches statistics",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.oaic.gov.au/news/blog/latest-notifiable-data-breach-statistics-for-january-to-june-2025",
      "quote": "The health sector had the most reported data breaches (18% of reported data breaches)",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2025-06",
          "value": "18%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "smb-sales-growth",
      "theme": "Small business economy",
      "label": "Australian small business sales growth, year on year",
      "value": "6.5%",
      "detail": "June quarter 2026",
      "asOf": "2026-06",
      "sourceName": "Xero Small Business Insights",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.xero.com/au/resources/small-business-insights/latest-australia/",
      "quote": "Sales grew a still healthy 6.5% year-on-year",
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "stale": false,
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2026-06",
          "value": "6.5%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "smb-payment-days",
      "theme": "Small business economy",
      "label": "Average days an Australian small business waits to be paid",
      "value": "22.9 days",
      "detail": "June quarter 2026",
      "asOf": "2026-06",
      "sourceName": "Xero Small Business Insights",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.xero.com/au/resources/small-business-insights/latest-australia/",
      "quote": "The average length of time small businesses waited to be paid, after issuing an invoice, was 22.9 days",
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "stale": false,
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2026-06",
          "value": "22.9 days",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ai-overview-ctr",
      "theme": "AI search",
      "label": "Lower average clickthrough for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview is present",
      "value": "58%",
      "detail": "Google Search Console data across 300,000 keywords",
      "asOf": "2026-04",
      "sourceName": "Ahrefs",
      "sourceUrl": "https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks-update/",
      "quote": "the presence of an AI Overview now correlates with a 58% lower average clickthrough rate for the top-ranking page",
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "stale": false,
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2026-04",
          "value": "58%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ai-summary-clicks",
      "theme": "AI search",
      "label": "Share of Google visits with an AI summary where users clicked a traditional result",
      "value": "8%",
      "detail": "vs 15% on pages without an AI summary, March 2025 browsing data",
      "asOf": "2025-03",
      "sourceName": "Pew Research Center",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/",
      "quote": "Users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits",
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "stale": false,
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2025-03",
          "value": "8%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "zero-click-share-2026",
      "theme": "AI search",
      "label": "Google searches ending without a click (United States)",
      "value": "68.01%",
      "detail": "January–April 2026, Similarweb clickstream panel. US data. No equivalent Australian panel is published, so read it as directional for Australia rather than local.",
      "asOf": "2026-04",
      "sourceName": "SparkToro / Similarweb",
      "sourceUrl": "https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/",
      "quote": "In the first four months of 2026, a whopping 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01",
      "history": [
        {
          "asOf": "2026-04",
          "value": "68.01%",
          "recordedAt": "2026-09-22"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "reconciliation": [
    {
      "id": "abs-bcs-2024-25",
      "figure": "12%",
      "population": "All Australian businesses (ABS Business Characteristics Survey, 2024–25)",
      "measure": "Reported use of artificial intelligence in the business during the year",
      "asOf": "2025-06",
      "sourceName": "Australian Bureau of Statistics",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/technology-and-innovation/characteristics-australian-business/latest-release",
      "quote": "Just over one in ten (12%) businesses reported use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), compared to 1% in 2022–23",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01"
    },
    {
      "id": "nab-myob-indeed-2026",
      "figure": "42%",
      "population": "Small and medium businesses surveyed by NAB with MYOB and Indeed",
      "measure": "Currently using AI",
      "asOf": "2026-04",
      "sourceName": "IT Brief, reporting the NAB research",
      "sourceUrl": "https://itbrief.com.au/story/nab-says-42-of-aussie-smes-use-ai-to-boost-productivity",
      "quote": "NAB says 42% of Aussie SMEs use AI to boost productivity",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01"
    },
    {
      "id": "deloitte-ai-edge-2025",
      "figure": "Two-thirds; 5% fully enabled",
      "population": "More than 1,000 Australian SMBs surveyed for Deloitte's AI Maturity Index",
      "measure": "Using AI at all, versus using it with the strategy, data and skills to realise its benefits",
      "asOf": "2025-11",
      "sourceName": "Deloitte Australia",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.deloitte.com/au/en/about/press-room/ai-edge-small-business-increased-smb-ai-adoption-can-add-44-billion-australias-economy-251125.html",
      "quote": "while two-thirds of SMBs are using AI, just 5% of surveyed SMBs using the technology are fully enabled to realise its potential benefits",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01"
    },
    {
      "id": "roy-morgan-2026",
      "figure": "58%",
      "population": "Australians aged 14 and over (individuals, not businesses)",
      "measure": "Used an AI tool in an average four-week period",
      "asOf": "2026-03",
      "sourceName": "Roy Morgan",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10248-artificial-intelligence-ai-tools-usage-march-2026",
      "quote": "13.6 million people, equivalent to 58% of Australians aged 14+, use ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) tools in an average four weeks",
      "stale": false,
      "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-10-01"
    }
  ],
  "changelog": [
    {
      "date": "2026-09-23",
      "note": "Index v2: history per indicator, the AI-adoption reconciliation table, CSV and JSON downloads, CC BY 4.0 licence, Dataset markup completed."
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-09-22",
      "note": "Two OAIC indicators moved to the January–June 2025 release; US zero-click figure added and labelled US-only; 18-month age check introduced."
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-08-03",
      "note": "Index published with source-verified indicators from Roy Morgan, the OAIC, Xero, Ahrefs, Pew Research Center and SparkToro."
    }
  ]
}