'Alarming': One In 3 Aussie Children Gambling

About one in 3 Aussie kids are rolling the dice on their futures, losing more than $18 million to betting each year.


The current findings released by think tank the Australia Institute reveal 30 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds gamble, with the figure spiralling to almost half of 18 to 19-year-olds.


That's 600,000 teenagers betting each year.


Gambling reform supporters state it's the outcome of a deliberate attempt by the gaming market to groom kids to bet from an extremely young age.


"There is proof that the betting market targets kids as young as 14 years of ages through social media, urging them to download betting advertisements, and the saturation of gambling advertisements around our significant football codes is likewise luring kids to bet," Alliance for Gambling Reform president Martin Thomas stated.


"It is both disconcerting and terrible to understand that the number of teens betting under the legal age would fill the MCG 6 times over."


The alliance is contacting all prospects in the upcoming federal election to commit to the suggestions made following the Murphy inquiry into online gaming, chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.


The questions's 2023 report found a "gush" of marketing and simulated gambling through computer game was grooming kids to wager and encouraging riskier behaviour.


It recommended an overall phase-out of all betting advertising over 3 years.


Despite the review being all backed across parliament with no dissenting remarks, Labor has dragged its feet on betting reform in spite of increasing pressure to ban betting advertisements.


Australians currently acquire the world's greatest losses, positioning $244.3 billion in bets every year.


Rates of betting have increased since 2019 and average yearly losses increased from almost $2000 per person to about $2500, according to the Australian Institute report.


The nation's overall gaming losses at $31.5 billion rivals the whole Northern Territory economy and is higher than the $21 billion lost to betting in all of Las Vegas, the report included.