Problem gambling rising as public patience dwindles
Australian authorities and political leaders have been urged to develop “better targeted protections” for communities vulnerable to the risks of problem gambling harms.
The warning comes from the Australian Gambling Research Centre (AGRC) that has published its “National Gambling Prevalence Study Pilot” for 2024.
The study maintains that “Australians lose $32 billion annually to legal gambling – the highest per capita losses globally.” In the backdrop, gambling policy is at a point of inflection as the majority of Australians feel gambling should be discouraged. The study underlines multiple flaws in current policies that have failed to minimise harms and do not connect links between gambling and broader social harms.
The AGRC data will be uncomfortable reading for politicians when it comes to reducing gambling’s exposure. The study found that 65.1% of Australian adults had engaged in at least one form of gambling in the past year, an increase from 56.9% in 2019. While lotteries remain the most widely used product—played by over half of all adults—riskier forms such as poker machines (19.8%), race betting (17.8%), and sports betting (12.5%) show growing popularity.
Gambling is no longer merely a leisure activity deemed by the AGRC to have “become a driver of harm for many, particularly for the 15% of adults now considered at risk of gambling-related harm”.
A breakdown of response to gambling harms, includes 7.6% at low risk, 4.8% at moderate risk, and 2.6% at high risk—the latter equating to an estimated 550,000 Australians. Regular gamblers, defined as those gambling at least monthly, were found to be over three times as likely to be in the high-risk category compared to occasional gamblers.
The harms ripple outwards among those classified as high-risk gamblers, 66% experienced financial hardship, including going without meals, pawning possessions, or needing help from family, friends, or welfare services. Mental health burdens are also heavier: 68% of high-risk gamblers reported a cognitive, behavioural or mental health condition in the last year, with suicidal ideation nearly four times higher than in non-risk gamblers.
The study also draws attention to the intersections between gambling and domestic violence. Nearly 19% of people whose partners gambled weekly or more reported experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), compared to just 6.8% when the partner did not gamble. These findings suggest gambling harms are not just individual afflictions but growing familial and societal harms.
The demographic picture reveals further vulnerabilities. Young adults (aged 18–24) had the highest proportion of high-risk gamblers, with nearly 18% of regular gamblers in this age group falling into the highest risk category. Meanwhile, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults were nearly twice as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to be at risk of gambling harm (27.1% vs 14.6%).
Despite this, Australia’s gambling policies remain disjointed, under-regulated, and heavily reliant on state revenues from gambling taxes. The AGRC is unambiguous in its criticism of current policy direction, arguing that “any policies seeking to address gambling harm must consider the links between riskier gambling and mental health, financial stress, and intimate partner violence.”
Moreover, the AGRC calls for gambling to be repositioned within a public health framework. “Future policy should be underpinned by and evaluated from a routine national gambling prevalence study,” the report recommends, highlighting the need for evidence-based regulation rather than fragmented or politically expedient fixes.
The authors stress that “the current report represents a surge in gambling participation and harm compared to 2019… This underscores the need to treat gambling as a major public health issue requiring a coordinated public health response.” The implication is clear: what exists today is insufficient, and the social costs are mounting.
Public attitudes, meanwhile, are shifting. 77% of Australians believe there are too many opportunities to gamble, and nearly 60% say gambling should be discouraged. These are not idle concerns. They reflect a growing unease with a system that profits from vulnerability and externalises its social costs to communities, health services, and families.
Yet for all the warnings, political momentum for reform remains sluggish. The Labor government continues to face criticism for failing to implement the full suite of recommendations from the 2023 Peta Murphy parliamentary inquiry on gambling reforms. The inquiry’s 31 recommendations included a total ban on online gambling advertising within three years and the prohibition of inducements, such as bonus bets.
While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly intervened to support a phased, three-year ban on advertising, he has repeatedly refused to clarify which specific measures he backs—only stating that “options are under revision.” As the AGRC report warns, “policy reform needs to keep pace with the evolving risks posed by gambling.”
With data now pointing to widespread and worsening harm and with clear, research-backed policy pathways laid out the government’s lack of firm commitment leaves it increasingly exposed to accusations of regulatory inertia. Backlash follows the Labor government to keep its pledge or deal with the consequences at the next election.
