‘Silent epidemic’: almost two-thirds of Sydney’s gambling losses occur in city’s west

Combined daily gambling losses from electronic gaming machines in three LGAs in Sydney’s west top $4.7m. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Almost two-thirds of Sydney’s gambling losses come from western Sydney, with advocates concerned the cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating problem gambling in the region.

A research paper from Western Sydney University, which has called gambling-related harm a “silent epidemic”, also says three LGAs in western Sydney account for a third of Sydney’s total gambling losses.