GAMBLING PARTICIPATION AND EXPERIENCE OF HARM IN AUSTRALIA
Based on previous research by the Australian Gambling Research Centre (AGRC, 2021), participation in traditional ‘land-based’ gambling (e.g. poker machines) has been declining among Australians over the past decade, while gambling online on sports and race betting has grown substantially during that time. As part of a current AGRC survey participants were asked about their gambling participation in the past 12 months, including what products they gambled on, how much they spent, what platforms/modes they used to gamble, and how gambling impacted their health and wellbeing.
The recent research and survey identified:
- Survey findings show that around three-quarters (73%) of Australian adults gambled at least once in the past 12 months and almost two in five (38%) gambled at least weekly.
- Among those who gambled, almost half (46%) were classified as being at some risk of gambling harm.
- The most common products people spent money on were lotteries/scratchies (64%), horse racing (38%), sports betting (34%) and pokies (33%); most participants (70%) gambled on multiple products (two or more).
- The average amount spent in a typical day when gambling was $83 (median = $20) on sports betting and $93 (median = $20) on race betting.
- More men than women gambled on every product (e.g. sports, racing, pokies, lotteries, casino games). Men also gambled more often, spent more money and were more likely to be at risk of harm.
- Most Australians expressed concern about the availability of gambling and its impacts on the community, believing that there are ‘too many opportunities for gambling nowadays‘ (77%) and that gambling is ‘dangerous for family life‘ (68%) and ‘should be discouraged‘ (59%).
Download the AGRC Gambling Participation Snapshot for more data>>> https://thedrop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2302_1_gambling-in-Australia.pdf
