Faster internet is having a positive impact on 77 per cent of Australians according to new research published by NBN Co.
The report shows that faster internet is not only improving our productivity but it is also lifting our wellbeing as well.
The benefits ranged across employment and income, education and skills, health, social and community and the environment.
The NBN has also provided an improvement for low-income households, First Nations communities and offers travel benefits.
“The NBN network supports the needs of over 20 million people every day and carries over 80 per cent of the nation’s data,” says Stephen Smith, EGM Safety, Wellbeing and Sustainability at NBN Co.
“Our ongoing network investments are increasing the capacity and reliability of the NBN network with faster speeds helping support people with better outcomes in employment, education, health and wellbeing outcomes across Australia.
“This report shows how continued improvements to the NBN network are helping Australians stay connected, access essential services and participate fully in the digital economy.”
This is the third year the research has been commissioned and comes after the national investment in high speed fibre and network technologies to deliver world class broadband via the NBN.
The report shows the benefits of high speed Internet a wide ranging.
In 2025, 43 per cent of NBN customers used their home internet for telehealth – that’s up from 34 per cent in 2023 While the number of people who studied from home jump to 21 per cent – an increase of 9 per cent from 2023.
Today 38 per cent of NBN users work from home at least one day a week – up from 31 per cent in 2023.
And 48 per cent of those who engage in formal education via the NBN said reduced travel time and flexible learning from studying online freed up more time to do other things like paid work, leisure or study
On the health side, 47 per cent said they could see a health professional or access to health service quickly and or more regularly thanks to the convenience of telehealth.
And we’re also feeling more connected to family and friends according to 72 per cent of users who enjoy higher quality communication via the NBN.
Ookla, a global brand for internet speed testing, reported a median download speed of 164.98Mbps at the end of December 2025 – that’s up from 94.89 Mbps in August 2025.
This increase coincided with the NBN speed increase of its 100Mbps plan to 500Mbps.
This move increased Australia’s global ranking in the Ookla Speed Test Global index from 61st place in August to 41st in December 2025.
By the end of last year there were 41 per cent of customers on wholesale 100Mbps download plans or above up from just 28 per cent a year earlier.
And 31 per cent were on plans 500Mbps or above up from 3 per cent in December 2024.
According to the NBN’s own research, Queenslanders had the highest average data download per user for the third consecutive year at 542GB in June 2025 while Tasmania had the lowest at 447GB.
Here are the states in order of their average downloads per user in June 2025:
QLD – 542GB
WA – 518GB
ACT – 513GB
NSW – 503GB
VICTORIA – 497GB
SA – 490GB
NT – 486GB
TAS – 447GB
Since then, the average monthly data download per customer has increased to 557GB – an increase of 13 per cent.
Today 90 per cent of premises on the fixed line network are now eligible for the latest residential wholesale speed tiers.
According to the report, 73 per cent of low income households have reported benefits of having the NBN and it having a positive impact on their life.
Other benefits include 87 per cent engaging in formal or informal education from home with 76 per cent able to access telehealth or online medical information and 74 per cent connecting with friends and family via the NBN.
The list of benefits were similar for First Nations communities with the survey finding 81 per cent with the NBN reporting it improved their life.
And 87 per who engage in formal or informal education from home had enjoyed a positive impact on their education.
Other improvements included working from home, job searches and employment outcomes.
A significant improvement for many who use the NBN to work, study or accessing health services from home was the reduction in travel time of up to 5.8 hours per month.
