Australian Family Physician Vol. 32, No. 3, March 2003 • 1 D uring the late 1990s three powerful drivers emerged for the computerisa- tion of Australian general practice: the promotion of computerisation by the General Practice Strategy Review Group, 1 government funding of the General Practice Computing Group (GPCG), and the inclusion of computerisation as a factor in the Practice Incentive Program (PIP). 2 Given these developments, the GPCG and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC), commissioned a study into the use of information technol- ogy in Australian general practice. 3 This paper reports current national estimates of information technology use in Australian general practice arising from that research. Previous research into computerisa- tion in Australian general practice has tended to assess the degree to which com- puters are used for various clinical and administrative tasks including electronic health records, automatic recall, elec- tronic prescribing, decision support/reference, CME, feedback, and research or evaluation. 4–11 Unfortunately many previous studies are based on regional samples or unrepresentative national samples, and thus do not provide national prevalence estimates of comput- erisation, nor do they develop any sophisticated measures of usage. The only previous national study, undertaken in late 1998 by AC Nielsen, estimated that computers were present in 31% of Australian general practices Computerisation in Australian general practice Mark C Western, Kathryn M Dwan, Toni Makkai, Chris Del Mar Mark C Western, BA(Hons), PhD, is Associate Professor, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. Kathryn M Dwan, BSc(Hons), BA, is Research Officer, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. John S Western, BA(Hons), Dip Soc Stud, MA, PhD, FASSA, is Emeritus Professor, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. Toni Makkai, BA, MSPD, PhD, is Research Director, Australian Institute of Criminology, ACT. Chris Del Mar, MA, MD, MB, BChir, FRACGP, FAFPHM, is Professor, School of Population Health, The University of Queensland. AIM To assess the current levels of computer use in Australian general practice, and identify clinical and administrative tasks for which computers are most commonly used by general practitioners. METHODS A telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of Australian GPs in active practice (n=1202). RESULTS The national response rate was 55.5%, with New South Wales, Tasmania and the Australian Capitol Territory recording lower than national rates, and Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory recording higher rates. Australian general practices were highly computerised (86%). General practitioners practising in capital cities were less likely to be computerised than their rural colleagues (p<.001). There were no significant differences in general computerisation among practices in the Australian states and territories (p>.05). Three task sets for which computers were used were identified: general administrative functions, patient oriented administrative functions and clinical functions. Computers were more likely to be used for administrative than clinical tasks. Use for administrative tasks increased with the size of the practice (p<.001) and with years of computer use (p<.001). DISCUSSION The results suggest that within two years 95% of Australian general practices will be computerised. While use of computers for clinical functions is less common than for administrative purposes, electronic script writing packages are widely employed. However, other theoretically valuable functions for improving clinical outcomes for patients, such as patient educational material and decision support systems, are the least commonly used.