Report Highlights Increase in Gambling Spending in Australia, Calls for Stricter Regulations  

A new report has discovered that gambling is creating a “black hole” in Australians’ household budgets. According to the research, the total annual gambling losses for 2022/23 amounted to AUD 1,527 ($960) for every Aussie adult.

A Black Hole in Household Budgets

The report was compiled by Equity Economics in partnership with the Alliance for Gambling Reform and Wesley Mission. It discovered that people’s gambling losses have been increasing together with the rise in the cost of living and the decline in real wages.

Overall, the household expenditure on gambling has been rising faster than spending on utilities (5.6%), education (17.5%) and housing (14.2%), the study understood. Compared to other expenses, the rise in gambling expenditure (18.2%) has been similar to the increase in transportation expenses (19.5%).

According to Equity Economics and its partners, Australia’s annual gambling losses for 2022/23 stood at AUD 31.5 billion ($19.8 billion), eclipsing the money the government spent on aged care (AUD 28.3 billion). The losses were comparable with the AUD 35.2 billion spent on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the researchers argued.

The losses for 2022/23 amounted to approximately AUD 1,527 for every adult in Australia. When considering exclusively the adults who gamble, the losses for the same period stood at AUD 2,492 ($1,568) per gambling adult.

Concerningly, the study shows that losses have increased 25% on pre-pandemic levels, suggesting a link between COVID-19 and the increase in gambling.

Over the same period, real wages have decreased by 5.7%, the study noted.

The Murphy Inquiry Recommendations Should Be Implemented

The researchers called the increase in gambling spending a “hidden, unspoken black hole in household budgets.” They also noted that the study outlined the highest gambling losses on record, sparking concerns about the effect the industry has on public health.

The report called on Australian governments to “help households plug the hole” by taking urgent action to address the issue. It suggested that evidence-based regulatory reforms would have a minimal cost to the government budget but could make all the difference for Australian consumers.  

The Alliance for Gambling Reform and Wesley Mission have therefore called for the implementation of all 31 recommendations outlined in the Murphy Inquiry.

Among other things, these include a ban on gambling ads, the prohibition of gambling inducements and the introduction of a levy on gambling that would fuel safer gambling initiatives.

Additionally, the organizations asked the government to create a unified national regulator and a national gambling ombudsman.

In addition to that, the two organizations asked all Australian jurisdictions to implement a shutdown of poker machines between midnight and 10 am and urgently introduce mandatory cashless gaming.