By Matt Wade
Australians lose an average of $1600 a year to gambling, more than anywhere else in the world, with poker machines making up half of this.
The country’s “lax approach” to gambling has caused harm to hundreds of thousands of people, including financial and mental distress, relationship breakdown, family violence, and suicide, according to a study by leading think tank, the Grattan Institute. Poker machines and online betting are particularly addictive, the report concluded.
“Australia has let the gambling industry run wild, and gamblers, their families, and the broader community are paying the price,” says Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally.
Australians lose about $12b on poker machines each year.Credit: Jason South
These six charts reveal the extent of gambling losses – and the political influence of the gambling industry.
World leader
The Grattan Institute found the average annual gambling loss per adult in Australia was $1635 in 2022, more than twice the US average ($809) and almost three times more than in New Zealand ($584).
“Australia has the highest per-capita gambling losses in the world,” the report says.
Australians collectively lost $24 billion on gambling in 2021–22; about half of that was lost on poker machines and a quarter on sports and racing bets.
While lotteries are the most common way Australians have a flutter, this form of gambling accounted for only 11 per cent of losses.
Who gambles most?
About 8 per cent of Australian adults placed a bet at least once a month in 2022. But that average hides a stark gender divide – 14 per cent of men bet regularly, compared with just 3 per cent of women.
Online betting has grown rapidly among young men in the past decade, a group that is targeted by gambling advertising.
“Betting is increasingly embedded in male social environments, reinforced by masculine norms of competitiveness and risk-taking,” the report says.
Overall losses on sports and racing betting grew from $3.6 billion in 2008–09 to $5.8 billion in 2020-21.
Who loses the most?
The Northern Territory had the highest average gambling losses of any state or territory in 2020–21 at $2169, followed by NSW ($1722) and Queensland ($1325).
Poker machines are especially prevalent in NSW; the state has about 88,000 machines – or one for every 75 adults.
Pokie losses per NSW adult averaged $1288 in 2023, around double the average in other states. More than half of pubs and clubs in NSW have poker machines.
Grattan’s report shows that average pokie losses tend to be higher in disadvantaged areas.
“Residents of Fairfield, one of the poorest communities in Sydney, lose $3967 a year on pokies – three times the state average,” the report says.
“In Victoria, the communities of Brimbank and Dandenong – both disadvantaged – have led the state in pokies losses per person for at least a decade.”
Alliance for Gambling Reform advocate Tim Costello said state and federal governments must stand up to vested interests and do more to reduce gambling harm in Australia.
“Our record gambling losses are not due to culture; they are due to failed regulation,” he said.
Political Influence
The report concludes gambling is one of Australia’s “most politically powerful industries”, which makes reforms to the sector politically risky.
Analysis of political donations made to political parties by the gambling industry reveals a spike in contributions to political parties when poker machine reforms are being attempted.
“The industry has repeatedly used its political power to thwart efforts to better protect the public,” the report says.
“Gambling companies and peak bodies apply pressure to our politicians through every avenue to protect their profits.”
Reform options
The Grattan Institute recommends banning all gambling advertising and inducements, reducing the number of pokies in each state over time, and introducing a mandatory pre-commitment scheme for online gambling, with daily, monthly, and annual limits on losses and a similar mandatory pre-commitment for pokies in every state and territory.
Grattan chief executive Aruna Sathanapally says gambling loss limits would stop people suffering catastrophic financial and personal harm.
“No one should lose their house, or their life, on the pokies.”
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