Overall gambling participation in Australia has declined, according to new research from the Australian National University’s Centre for Gambling Research. The study reveals a drop in gambling rates from 65.6% in 2019 to 60.3% in 2024, a decrease attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on in-person gambling activities.
The dip in gambling rates aligns with a long-term downward trend, with researchers attributing the decline to COVID-19 shutting down retail venues. The study involved a larger sample size of 4,027 adults, compared to 2,054 in 2019. Participants have increasingly shifted from in-venue betting to online gambling, with 33.4% reporting online gambling compared to 28.6% who gambled in person.
“While the participation rate dropped close to 50% of the adult population during Covid-19, this data suggests that the ‘new normal’ gambling participation rate has plateaued at around 60%,” the report said.
Online gambling was most popular among 45-55-year-olds, who made up 20.5% of the online betting sample, including lottery betting. The 25-34-year-old demographic accounted for 18.7% of online users.
The report highlighted that online gamblers were typically younger, with higher employment rates and incomes. Across the population, 28.5% of online gamblers had a university degree, and 47.2% held post-school certificates or diplomas. They were also more likely to be employed and part of a couple with children.
In contrast, in-person bettors were generally older, with 21.2% aged 65-74 years, and adults over 45 making up 66.1% of the in-person demographic. When broken down by gender, females constituted 53.8% of all in-person gambling activities and 42.1% of online gamblers.
By type of gambling, lottery was the most popular, played by 46.8% of those surveyed, followed by raffles (23.4%) and scratchcards (15.7%).
While sports betting is often seen as a major industry in Australia, only 4.7% of the population participated, with 94.2% of these bets placed online. Similarly, casino table games accounted for just 2.7% of the sample’s gambling activity.
Despite the overall decline in gambling participation, the study found an increase in “risky” gambling behaviors. The percentage of individuals engaging in risky gambling rose from 11.6% in 2023 to 13.6% in 2024. Risky gambling is defined using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), with a score of 1 or more indicating risky behavior.
“Online gambling has exponentially increased, and should now be considered one of the main gambling platforms,” the director of the gambling research centre, Dr Aino Suomi, said. “The unlimited access to online gambling has the potential to cause real harm if not properly addressed.”
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/noticias/2024/08/02/74064-australia-study-shows-decline-in-gambling-participation-rise-in-online-betting-and-risky-behaviors
