Australians under the legal gambling age are losing a staggering $18.4 million a year to gambling. Source: SBS News.
The latest findings released by The Australia Institute reveal that almost one in three young people aged 12 to 17 have engaged in some form of gambling.
When the data is expanded to include 18 and 19-year-olds, the estimated annual spend balloons to a jaw-dropping $231 million.
The research is based on a nationally representative survey of 1000 young people aged 12 to 17 and 1000 aged 18 to 19. It paints a sobering picture of how gambling is not only widespread among teenagers but is becoming normalised, according to researchers.
This includes digital environments like gaming platforms where young users are exposed to gambling-style features, alongside regular exposure to gambling advertisements across TV, social media, and even during major sporting events.
Lead researcher Morgan Harrington said the findings were “alarming and shocking”, and reflected how rapidly attitudes toward gambling have shifted in a single generation.
“The numbers show that there is a dramatic increase in gambling when teenagers turn 18 – by 16 per cent, in fact. You might look at that and say, ‘that’s not surprising as everyone wants to find out what it’s like when they turn 18 to do a whole range of things’.
“But what our analysis shows is that the numbers don’t go back down until at least the mid-20s, which is as far as we analysed. So it looks like these are habits that stick.”
Dr Harrington warns that without serious intervention, these behaviours could become entrenched and carry through into adulthood, posing risks to financial stability, mental health and wellbeing.
Sally Gainsbury, director of the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic at the University of Sydney, says the rise of online betting has fundamentally changed how and where gambling takes place.
“Gambling used to occur in licensed premises that had very strict age restrictions on them. Now, with people wagering online through their phones, it’s commonly occurring in the home,” she said.
FULL STORY
The $231 million cost to Australian teenagers that’s ‘alarming and shocking’ (By Julia Abbondanza, SBS News)
