The statistics were obtained from cross-sectional analysis of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey data, wave 15, which is the first wave to include gambling questions. The HILDA Survey was designed so that participants' responses (17,606 participants in wave 15) could be generalised to the Australian adult population. Figures from Australian Gambling Statistics suggest sports betting has increased by 30 per cent between 2013 and 2015, making this the fastest-growing gambling product in Australia. In fact, 0.5-1.0% of Australian adults are problem gamblers according to Central Coast Gambling Help, and a further 1.4-2.1% of adults experience moderate risks. Q&A with a spokesperson from Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation: Do you think Australia has a gambling problem? Australia is a gambling nation, with around 80 per cent of young people having participated in gambling at least once. What starts as fun can become a serious problem if it begins to negatively affect your daily life or cause financial problems.
This edition of Australian Gambling Statistics contains 2016–2017 gambling statistics for all Australian states and territories.
To see how Victoria compares with the rest of Australia on gambling expenditure, see Gambling in Victoria on the Foundation's website.
This comprehensive set of data covers the entire range of legalised Australian gambling products such as pokies, casino, race betting, sports betting and lotteries. It provides a wide range of gambling data, including total turnover, total expenditure, per adult turnover, per adult expenditure, percentage change in turnover and expenditure each year, market share of each gambling product and government revenue collected from gambling taxes.
Notable findings were:
- total gambling expenditure in Australia decreased from $23.804 billion in 2015–2016 to $23.694 billion in 2016-17 (a 0.5 per cent decrease)
- per adult gambling expenditure in Australia decreased from $1,277.83 to $1,251.39 (a 1.7 per cent decrease)
- total electronic gaming machine expenditure in Australia increased from $12.074 billion to $12.136 billion (a 0.5 per cent increase)
- total casino expenditure in Australia decreased from $5.195 billion to $4.790 billion (a 7.8 per cent decrease)
- total race betting expenditure in Australia increased from $3.099 billion to $3.313 billion (a 6.9 per cent increase)
- total sports betting expenditure in Australia increased from $921 million to $1.062 billion (a 15.3 per cent increase).
For more information, see the 34th edition of the Australian Gambling Statistics on the Queensland Government Statistician's Office website.
Australia Problem Gambling Statistics Worldwide
Texas holdem poker cebu tournaments. Media contact:
Fiona Skivington, Manager, Media & Communication
on +61428248931 or fiona.skivington@responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au
