New data on gambling in Australia reveals that around 3 million people are engaged in some form of harmful gambling, which is linked to financial stress, family violence and poor mental health.
The Australian Gambling Research Centre survey of 3,881 Australian adults found there had been a rise in the number of Australian adults who have gambled at least once in the past 12 months, from 57 per cent in 2019 to 65 per cent in 2024.
Lotteries were the most common form of gambling, followed by instant scratch tickets, poker machines, racing and sports betting.
While the study found most Australians — around 50 per cent — were considered non-risk gamblers, which means they did not experience harm related to the practice, the study found there had been a rise in people who experienced some form of gambling-related harm.
Lead author Dr Gabriel Tillman said the proportion of people surveyed who experienced gambling-related harm was equivalent to around 3 million Australians.
“If we look at harm, 15 per cent of people experienced gambling harm in the past 12 months and that is up from 11 per cent in 2019.”
Gambling harm included stress, borrowing money, skipping meals or selling things to fund gambling.
Among those identified as regular monthly gamblers, 7.7 per cent were considered high risk.
Pokies reform debate
High risk gambling was associated with a higher prevalence of cognitive, behavioural and mental health conditions, as well as higher rates of intimate partner violence and financial hardship.
“People start gambling for the thrill of the gamble — for the fact they make their life different,” Dr Tillman said.
“So it starts turning into a behavioural addiction paradigm, or a genuine way to make money.”
Young gamblers at risk
Young people, aged 18 to 24, were nearly twice as likely to be at high risk of harm, compared to other age groups.
Dr Tillman said gambling advertising targeted towards young people increased the risk of harm.
“It’s kind of a repetitive message we keep finding, we go into the data, and we look at age groups and the young group is at high risk.”
Lived experience advocate and former gambler Shayne Rodgers grew up with gambling as part of his life.
“Gambling was discussed daily in my household,” he said.
“We were part of horse racing syndicates, TattsLotto. [It] kind of started at an early age.”
At just 18, the Taungurung man realised his betting was becoming a problem.
He realised he needed to get help when he was in his late 20s and found it was affecting his day-to-day life, such as being unable to afford fuel for his car.
Shayne Rodgers has not gambled for more than a decade, but he said he now worries about his son’s exposure to gambling.
Australians lose $32 billion on legal forms of gambling each year. ( Four Corners: Jerry Rickard)
He said Australia needed to do more to regulate gambling, including limiting online gambling ads.
“We go on football apps and things like that and the first thing that they see when they try and watch a replay of the game is gambling ads,” he said.
“We’re impacting our children, who have no idea about gambling, especially at my son’s age. They’re getting conditioned.”
The report found Queensland reported the highest prevalence of gambling, at 70.2 per cent, followed by Western Australia at 69.6 per cent, and South Australia at 67.9 per cent.
Respondents in New South Wales reported a lower rate, at 63.9 per cent.
While Victoria and Tasmania had the lowest prevalence, at 60 per cent and 59.9 per cent, respectively.
The study did not include data on the Northern Territory or the ACT.
Gambling regulation failure
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello said Australia has failed to protect children and young people from gambling harm.
“This is literally a social pandemic and a social holocaust happening on our watch,” he said.
One advocate says the federal government has not implemented any of the recommendations of the 2023 Murphy Report. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)
Mr Costello said the federal government has not implemented any of the recommendations of the landmark 2023 Murphy Report into gambling harm, which included recommendations for a national gambling regulator and a ban on online gambling ads.
Australians lose $32 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, more per capita than anywhere in the world.
In a statement, a government spokesperson said the Albanese government had undertaken significant gambling harm reduction measures, including launching the self-exclusion register BetStop.
The statement said the government had also established mandatory ID checks for online bets, banning the use of credit cards for online betting and introducing tag lines for gambling advertisements.
