Abstract
Using the Internet for electronic business has become an area of action for the Australian government. This paper presents research results from two regional areas, which indicate that while most manufacturing SMEs use e‐mail, very few are involved in electronic commerce activities. Major barriers are concern about security and privacy of transactions, cost of consultants, and lack of IT expertise of staff. Employing people with appropriate knowledge has been added to current training methods such as on‐the‐job training. Results from the two regional areas are found to be consistent. Comparisons between small and medium organisations highlight some differences.