Cyberbludging, the term coined in 2000 by Charles Heunemann, chief executive of internet security company SurfControl, has gained entry as an Australian colloquialism in the Macquarie Dictionary.

Heunemann first used the term in the Cyberbludging Report 2000 to describe the activity of workers surfing the Internet for personal use.

The report estimated that every employee was taking the equivalent of a two-week cyber-holiday each year due to cyberbludging, costing the nation $22.5 billion annually.

“The fact that cyberbludging is now formally recognised as part of the Australian language says a lot about the change in Australians’ attitudes to Internet usage at work,” Heunemann said.

“When we first talked about cyberbludging, many people were shocked that employers would consider monitoring employee Internet usage. But within a very short space of time, after the rise of spam and junk email, our formal research studies showed that employees wanted protection against Net nasties.”

The Macquarie Dictionary entry online reads: Cyberbludging (say 'suybuhblujing) noun Colloquial an employee's use of internet resources provided at work for other than work-related purposes.