‘Desperate’ Australians losing billions more to pokies during cost-of-living crisis, researcher warns

In Queensland, losses to gambling in the last financial year jumped by more than 33%, while in South Australia they saw an increase of 34%. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Australians are losing billions of dollars more to poker machines than they were before the pandemic, with researchers attributing the sharp increase to “desperation” during a cost-of-living crisis.

In New South Wales, an average of about $22m was lost to poker machines each day during the first six months of 2023, totalling $3.9bn over that period.