New research shows an increasing number of Australians are gambling online and entering “risky” territory.
The Australian National University’s centre for gambling research found people have continued to gamble at elevated levels, after spiking post-pandemic.
The director of the gambling research centre, Dr Aino Suomi, said the “new normal” of gambling participation – which included entering lotteries – had plateaued at about 60%, an increase from about 50% of the adult population who participated in gambling during the Covid-19 shut downs.
The ANU research found a slight decrease in the number of participants in the 12 months since the poll was taken, dropping from 61.3% to 60.3%. Before the pandemic, gambling levels were sitting about 65.6%.
But the number of people participating in gambling with risk increased from 11.6% last year to 13.6% in 2024, the research found.
The latest poll also found online gambling was becoming increasingly popular, with 33.4% of respondents placing bets on those platforms in the past 12 months. Online gambling participation was highest for betting on sports and racing, the report found.
“Online gambling has exponentially increased, and should now be considered one of the main gambling platforms,” Suomi said.
“The unlimited access to online gambling has the potential to cause real harm if not properly addressed.”
The data was collected between April 2019 and January 2024. A separate report using the same data examined how gambling harm extended to others, with about 1.2 million adults reporting being personally affected by someone else’s gambling in the past 12 months.
“Individuals who were affected by someone else’s gambling tended to be younger (18-24), earning a lower income, experiencing problems related to their own gambling and dealing with loneliness or psychological distress,” Suomi said.
Critics are pushing for stronger gambling reforms from the Albanese government. Discontent has been growing among the crossbench and advocates over the delay in implementing reforms proposed by a parliament committee headed by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.
The landmark Murphy report recommended a phased, comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising within three years.
It said the ban should be implemented in four phases. The first stage prohibited inducements on social media and online platforms, and ads during school drop-off and pick-up times; then banning “all online gambling advertising and commentary on odds, during and an hour either side of a sports broadcast”, on uniforms and in stadiums. Next came banning broadcast ads between 6am and 10pm, and finally a prohibition on all online gambling advertising and sponsorship.
While the government has not ruled out adopting the committee’s recommendations, it had not yet committed to an action plan.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has repeatedly said the government was engaging on the best course of action and would “announce a comprehensive response to the parliamentary inquiry in due course”.
In Australia, Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found via the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic on 020 7381 7722, or GamCare on 0808 8020 133. In the US, call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 800-GAMBLER or text 800GAM
