Australians lose more money to gambling in a year than government spends on aged care, report finds

Despite the cost-of-living crisis, the amount of money lost to gambling has increased, a report by Equity Economics has found. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Australians are losing more money to gambling each year than the federal government spends on aged care and almost as much as it spends on the national disability insurance scheme, a new report has found.

The report by Equity Economics found that despite the cost-of-living crisis, the amount of money being lost to gambling has significantly increased. Expenditure on gambling has also risen faster than the cost of education, housing and inflation.