Shocking new findings show that up to 600,000 teenagers under 18 years of age are gambling, spending more than $18 million annually.
Almost one in three (30%) 12-17 year olds gamble and this spirals to almost half (46%) of 18-19 year olds who are betting $213 million every year, according to new research by the Australia Institute.
The research finds: “Australians start gambling in large numbers well before they are old enough to legally gamble”.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform’s Chief Executive, Martin Thomas, said the shocking findings are the result of a deliberate attempt by the gambling industry to groom children to gamble at a very young age.
“There is evidence that the gambling industry targets kids as young as 14 years old through social media, urging them to download gambling ads and the saturation of gambling ads around our major football codes is also luring children to gamble,” he said.
“It is both alarming and tragic to understand that the number of teenagers gambling under the legal age would fill the MCG six times over.”
The Murphy inquiry into online gambling, chaired by the late Labor MP, Peta Murphy, and unanimously supported by inquiry members from both sides of politics, found that: “The inescapable torrent of gambling advertising was normalising online gambling and its links with sport, grooming children and young people to gamble, and encouraging riskier behaviour”.
“The Australia Institute’s findings should be a wake-up call to the government and to all Australians “, said Matthew Sekfy, a secondary school teacher and co-founder of Gambling Education Australia, an organisation that educate and provide strategies to schools and sports clubs to minimise the impact of harmful gambling.
“Underage gambling, particularly sports betting is commonplace and an open topic of conversation amongst secondary students”, he said.
“This generation of teenagers know sport and gambling as being interconnected. They have no experience of one without the other. Teenagers who spend much of their time online cannot escape gambling advertising. If anything, I believe the Australia Institute’s findings underestimate the problem”.
Mr Thomas said this election, the Alliance is calling for all candidates to commit to the 31 recommendations of the Murphy parliamentary report which includes a total ban on all gambling advertising phased in over three years.
The Australia Institute report found:
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Australian teenagers - before and after they turn 18 – are more likely to gamble on sport, than to play any of the most popular sports in their age group.
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The nation’s total gambling losses ($31.5 billion) rivals the entire Northern Territory economy and is greater than the $21 billion lost to gambling in all of Las Vegas
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Australians place $244.3 billion in bets every year
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Rates of gambling have increased since 2019 with average losses increasing by 25% (from $1,992 per person to $2,492 a year)
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Gambling habits established in the teenage years persist at least until a person’s mid-20s.
Read the research: Teenage gambling in Australia - Rates of expenditure and participation among 12-19-year-olds
Key Facts:
- Australian teenagers - before and after they turn 18 – are more likely to gamble on sport, than to play any of the most popular sports in their age group.
- The nation’s total gambling losses ($31.5 billion) rivals the entire Northern Territory economy and is greater than the $21 billion lost to gambling in all of Las Vegas
- Australians place $244.3 billion in bets every year
- Rates of gambling have increased since 2019 with average losses increasing by 25% (from $1,992 per person to $2,492 a year)
- Gambling habits established in the teenage years persist at least until a person’s mid-20s.
About us:
The Alliance for Gambling Reform is a national advocacy organisation working to reduce gambling harm in Australia. We partner with other organisations and with local councils to reduce the alarming level of gambling harm in Australia, we work to change the laws and rules governing the gambling industry. We do not seek to ban gambling. Rather we seek to influence government to minimise the harmful behaviours of the gambling industry and to give voice to those who are impacted by gambling harm.
Contact details:
Martin Thomas (CEO of the Alliance) is available for interview on 0477 340 704