Main points
- Figures compiled by the Queensland Treasury show total gambling losses in 2022-2023 will be $32 billion.
- Alliance for Gambling Reform chief executive Martin Thomas described the figures as “appalling”.
- Australia’s gambling losses are the largest in the world, according to the Grattan Institute.
Gambling reform advocates have renewed their push for a blanket ban on ads as new data shows losses are rising.
The average loss for each Australian adult was $1,555 a year in 2022-2023, up from $1,395 in 2021-2022.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief executive Martin Thomas said the losses reflected “social harm on an industrial scale” based on figures collected by the Queensland Treasury.
“These latest horrific loss figures underscore the importance of the federal government adopting all 31 of the Murphy Report’s recommendations, including a complete ban on gambling advertising in broadcast media and online,” Thomas said Sunday.
Important report A total ad ban, a tax on gambling companies and the creation of a national regulator were called for, among dozens of other recommended reforms.
While no final policy has been announced, federal ministers are warning of unintended consequences from a blanket ban, including the impact on media company revenues.
The Albanian government has proposed a partial ad ban banning online advertising during children’s programs and live sports broadcasts, which have an hour on either side – as well as restrictions on regular programming.
Figures released last week showed total gambling losses – the net amount lost when accounting for winnings – were $32 billion in 2022-2023.
This is up from $28 billion in 2021-2022.
More than half a million Australians have it A parliamentary inquiry into the effects of online gambling heard in April.
A report released by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in March
Three quarters of Australians have gambled in the past 12 months, with two in five gambling weekly. 46 percent of those who gambled considered gambling risky.
Australia leads the world in terms of gambling losses
Australia’s gambling losses are the largest in the world, according to the Grattan Institute.
One in three Australians gambled regularly, and the nation was home to more pokies than ATMs or letterboxes.
The report found that one in three Australians gambled regularly, with internet betting “high”, particularly among young people, and described industry advertising as a “main culprit” in the normalization of gambling.
It recommended a range of other measures to reduce harm, including banning all ads and reducing the number of poker machines in each state.
Aruna Sathanapalli, Chief Executive of Grattan Institute There are too many poker machines in Australia.
“In Australia, the types of machines you have in other countries are usually limited to casinos, but they’re all over our suburbs.
“Our analysis showed we’ve got more pokis across Australia than ATMs, post offices, public toilets and those losses are really concentrated in our most disadvantaged suburbs.”
NSW pokies take in $262,000 per machine each year
People in NSW lost $2.1 billion to poker machines in the third financial quarter of 2023.
That’s $250 for every adult and child in the state.
Hotels operating with a legal maximum of 30 poker machines generated, on average, $65,589 per machine during the 90-day period from July 1st to the end of September 2023.
Per year, that’s over $262,000 in profit for each poker machine.
Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hansen-Young said the government was dragging the reform chain.
“Labor has drawn to the bookies and the public is looking for better prospects,” she said on Sunday.
Earlier in the month, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said she was in talks with states and territories to share “dual responsibility” on how to reduce gambling harm.
“Our focus is how do you reduce online harm, ensure children are protected and, of course, how do we reduce problem gambling in this country. So, everything has to be guided.”
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