Gambling

Gambling encompasses a range of activities where people stake money on an uncertain outcome to win money (Sathanapally et al. 2024). There are many different types of gambling, including lotteries, scratchies, pokies, betting, and casino games. While gambling is often promoted as a recreational or entertainment activity, it can negatively impact the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and the broader community (Hilbrecht et al. 2020; Latvala et al.2019; Wardle et al. 2024). The potential health, social and economic harms associated with gambling are a major public policy issue in Australia, and include:

• financial and mental distress
• emotional and psychological costs
• relationship and family impacts
• productivity loss and work impacts (Abbott 2020; Latvala et al. 2019; Sathanapally et al. 2024).

This page provides statistics, including gambling participation, expenditure, risk and harm.

Gambling participation

The 2024 HILDA Survey report estimated that, in a typical month in 2022:

• lotto or lottery games were the most common gambling activity (26% of adults)
• men were more likely to engage in gambling activities than women, in particular betting on horse or dog races (10.1% for men and 2.2% for women) and betting on sports (9.3% and 1.1%, respectively) (Wilkins et al. 2024; Table 1).

Note: * Estimate not reliable

Source: Wilkins et al. (2024)

The 2022 AGRC online general community panel survey similarly found that, in the past 12 months:

• lottery games and instant scratch tickets were the most common types of gambling participated in by adults
• men were more likely to spend more money and be at risk of harm from gambling than women.

Gambling trends

While lotteries have remained the most common type of gambling in Australia, trends in the prevalence of different gambling types have changed over time.

The 2024 HILDA Survey report estimated that, from 2015 to 2022, engagement in:

• the lotto or lottery games in a typical month fell (from 30% of Australians to 26%)
• instant scratch tickets in a typical month fell (from 8.5% to 5.3%)
• sports betting in a typical month rose (from 3.3% to 5.1%) (Wilkins et al. 2024).

There was also a fall in the proportion of people reporting use of poker machines over the same period, but an almost doubling in reported monthly expenditure on poker machines – suggesting those people gambling on poker machines in 2022 were spending more than in 2015 (Wilkins et al. 2024).

Betting trends

The rise in betting in recent years has been largely driven by increasing engagement among men. From 2015 to 2022, the estimated proportion of men participating in bets on:

• horse or dog races in a typical month increased from 9.3% to 10.1%
• sports in a typical month increased from 5.6% to 9.3% (Wilkins et al. 2024).

This notable rise in betting among men could potentially be linked to its increasing accessibility and promotion in social and online environments (including social media campaigns, advertising and apps) (Marinos 2025; Sathanapally et al. 2024).

The Grattan Institute’s analysis of the HILDA survey reported that, in a typical month in 2022:

• 8.1% of adults placed a bet, compared with 7.1% in 2015 
• 14% of adult men placed a bet, compared with 12% in 2015
• 2.7% of adult women placed a bet, compared with 2.6% in 2015.

They also found that betting is most common among young men aged 18–34. Between 2015 and 2022, the proportion of men who placed a bet in a regular month:

• increased for those aged 18–24 (from 10% in 2015 to 17% in 2022).
• increased for those aged 25–34 (from 11% to 17%).
• decreased for those aged 45–54 (from 15% to 12%) (Sathanapally et al. 2024; Figure 1).

Gambling at risky levels and impacts of gambling harm

Gambling can harm people’s financial security, health, and broader wellbeing. In some cases, the consequences can be catastrophic, including job loss, bankruptcy, fraud, relationship breakdown, family violence, and suicide. Family members, friends, and colleagues may also suffer financial and mental stress and relationship conflict because of someone else’s gambling.

Gambling at risky levels

The 2024 HILDA report estimated that the prevalence of risky gambling varies by level of severity and is much higher among men than women. Between 2018 and 2022, there was an increase in the proportion of Australians reporting any gambling problem. Looking at the prevalence for the 3 gambling severity types:

• low-risk gambling was 3.7% in 2018, compared with 4.9% in 2022
• moderate-risk gambling was 2.5% in 2018 and 3.1% in 2022
• high-risk gambling was 1.1% in 2018 and 1.8% in 2022 (Wilkins et al. 2024).

In 2022:

• 3.3% of women reported low-risk gambling compared with 6.7% of men
• 1.2% (157,000) of women reported high-risk gambling compared with 2.4% (310,000) of men.
  • This was an increase from 0.6% and 1.6% in 2018, respectively (Wilkins et al. 2024).

Some factors increase the probability of a person being a low, moderate or high-risk gambler. For example, regression analysis of the HILDA survey shows that individuals with at least a bachelor’s degree, or children under 15 years of age were less likely to experience gambling-related risks than those without. Financial risk takers were more likely than non-financial risk takers to experience gambling related harm, as were smokers compared with non-smokers, and people who were in poor general health compared with those not in poor general health (Wilkins et al. 2024).

Risky gambling, health and wellbeing

Being an at-risk gambler is associated with lower overall life satisfaction, decreased mental health, high alcohol consumption and financial stress.

Women who are risky gamblers are more likely (than women who are non-gamblers or non-problem gamblers) to experience lower life satisfaction and more likely to be heavy drinkers. Men who are risky gamblers are more likely to experience mental health issues and more likely to experience financial stress (Wilkins et al. 2024).

Gambling harms and its impact on others

The National Telephone Survey of the 2019 Interactive Gambling Study estimated that 6.0% of Australian adults reported being harmed by someone else’s gambling (Hing et al. 2021). Those most commonly affected were:

• family members (including spouses/partners, other relatives, siblings, former spouse/partners)
• friends
• work colleagues.

The most common harms experienced due to another person’s gambling were feeling angry, distressed or hopeless about their gambling, and experiencing greater tension and conflict in their relationships. Reduction of available spending money or savings, loss of sleep and less enjoyment from time spent with people they care about were also commonly reported (Hing et al. 2021).

Gambling expenditure

In 2022–23, total gambling expenditure (net losses) in Australia was $31.5 billion, the highest it has been in the last 2 decades. Per capita gambling losses in Australia were estimated at around $1,527, up from $1,461 (in real terms) in 2021–22 (QGSO 2024). Despite a fall at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, total gambling expenditure has generally continued to increase over time.

• At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, total gambling expenditure in real terms fell from $29.5 billion in 2018–19 to $24.1 billion in 2019–20 before increasing to $31.5 billion in 2022–23. The decline in total gambling expenditure in 2019–20 mostly reflects decreases in land-based gambling expenditure such as casino gambling and poker machines in pubs/clubs, which were directly impacted by temporary venue closures during the COVID-19 restrictions. 
• In each year since 2019–20, gambling expenditure has continued to increase.
• Prior to 2019–20, wagering (which includes racing and sports betting activities) losses were increasing steadily over time (from $3.4 billion in 2001–02 to $4 billion in 2008–09 and $5.8 billion in 2018–19). Despite a slight fall in 2019–20, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, wagering losses have increased in recent years and remained notably higher than the past 2 decades ($6.5 billion in 2020–21, $8.8 billion in 2021–22 and $8.4 billion in 2022–23) (Figure 2).

From 2020 until 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the availability of land-based gambling activities. It is important that recent years of gambling data be considered in the context of COVID-19 (QGSO 2024).

The 2024 HILDA report also captured individuals with at least some expenditure on a gambling activity, and how much was spent on a typical month. In 2022, spending on instant scratch tickets, followed by keno was lowest compared to all other gambling types. For men, mean monthly expenditure was highest for poker machines, casino table games and betting on horse or dog races. For women, it was highest for poker and poker machines (Wilkins et al. 2024).

The 2024 HILDA survey report shows in 2022, the average self-reported typical monthly expenditure on:

• poker machines was $241.09 – which almost doubled in real terms from $120.66 in 2015. This coincided with a fall in the proportion of individuals reporting spending money on poker machines
• horse or dog races was $147 – higher than $115.03 in 2015, but lower than in 2018 ($218.90), after adjusting for inflation
• sports betting was $102.66 – an increase from $85.61 in 2015 and $94.86 in 2018, after adjusting for inflation (Wilkins et al. 2024).

Self-reported spending on gambling may be an underestimate for reasons such as recall or a desire to give what may be perceived as a more socially desirable response.

Where do I go for more information?

For more information on gambling, see:

• Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research HILDA Statistical Report
• Australian Gambling Research Centre (AGRC) Gambling participation, experience of harm and community views 
• AGRC National Gambling Trends Study
• Department of Social Services Gambling
• Grattan Institute A better bet: How Australia should prevent gambling harm