Timber, brick or steel-framed houses can all be attacked by termites, according to a new survey carried out by school students around Australia.

Members of CSIRO's Double Helix Science Club surveyed more than four thousand householders. The information coming from every State was then analysed by CSIRO researchers.

"We rated regions of Australia for termite hazard in six categories — negligible to very high," says Dr Laurie Cookson of CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products.

Only Tasmania received a 'negligible' rating with 100 houses surveyed and no termite attacks reported.

Large expanses of tropical and subtropical country in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, extending from the coast to considerable distances inland, were rated 'very high'.

The south-western corner of WA, including Perth, also comes into this category.

"The findings show the most important factor influencing termite hazard is temperature, followed by rainfall," says Dr Cookson. "The hazard in Queensland is higher along the coast than in the more arid regions further west."

Dr Cookson says that researchers were surprised that the materials used for floors and wall framing appear to have no impact on the chances of termite attack. Houses with concrete floors are just as likely to be attacked as those with wooden floors. Similarly, termites are found as often in double brick and steel-framed houses as in those with timber frames.

"There might be a different picture when you look at the cost of the damage," Dr Cookson says. "We were concerned with the presence or absence of the pest."

As well as location, a house's age is the factor linked most closely with its chances of having experienced termite attack. 

"We designed a simple questionnaire for the students to obtain information on termites, from an average of 20 households each," says Dr Cookson.

"Students questioned the owners or occupants of nearly 4200 houses", he says. "We followed-up with a survey of CSIRO staff and about 150 telephone interviews in areas for which more data were needed, lifting the sample size above 5000".

The findings will assist decision-making on what precautions should be taken against termites in different parts of the country - through, for example, use of preservative-treated or durable timber in house frames - and decisions on where termite protection systems are important.

"The findings will provide a significant input to revisions of relevant building standards and regulations," says Dr Cookson.

The work was part of the Design for Durability project funded by the Forest and Wood Products R&D Corporation, and managed by the Timber Research and Development Advisory Council of Queensland.

"The aim is to improve our ability to specify timber structures for different regions of Australia," says Dr Cookson.

Researchers warn that data collected for individual houses in the termite hazard mapping project may not be totally reliable, but the size of the sample ensures the broad picture is accurate.

To help with the process, the researchers invited students to send them insects they were unsure about for verification.

"We received over 110 samples of 'termites', and only three were something else," Dr Cookson says.