BY THE NUMBERS – AUSTRALIA’S GAMBLING SHAME

Australians lose about AUD 31.5 billion per year to legal gambling.

That amount is more than what the federal government spends on aged care (≈ AUD 28.3 billion).

It’s nearly as much as what is spent on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) (≈ AUD 35.2 billion).

On average, each adult in Australia loses about AUD 1,527 per year to gambling.

This is money many families could use for rent/mortgage, bills, food, education, or saving. When losses pile up like that over years, the damage becomes severe and persistent.

Australia has the highest per-capita gambling losses in the world, far exceeding countries like the US and New Zealand.

For example, Australia’s average annual loss per adult (~AUD 1,635) is more than double that of the US (AUD ~809) or New Zealand (AUD ~584).

Around 73% of Australian adults gambled at least once in the past 12 months.

Almost two out of every five (38%) of adult Australians gambled at least weekly.

Among people who gamble, nearly half (46%) are classified as being at some risk of gambling harm.

Australians lose nearly AUD 13 billion every year on pokies alone.

The vast majority of those losses come from people gambling above “low-risk” limits.

While real wages have declined somewhat in recent years (or at least not kept pace with inflation), gambling losses have increased.