'Alarming': One In 3 Aussie Children Gambling

About one in three Aussie kids are chancing on their futures, losing more than $18 million to betting each year.


The most recent findings launched by think tank the Australia Institute show 30 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds gamble, with the figure spiralling to nearly half of 18 to 19-year-olds.


That's 600,000 teenagers gambling each year.


Gambling reform supporters state it's the result of a purposeful attempt by the gambling market to groom children to gamble from a really young age.


"There is evidence that the gambling industry targets kids as young as 14 years of ages through social networks, prompting them to download betting ads, and the saturation of gambling advertisements around our major football codes is also tempting children to bet," Alliance for Gambling Reform president Martin Thomas said.


"It is both alarming and tragic to understand that the variety of teenagers betting under the legal age would fill the MCG six times over."


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


The query's 2023 report found a "torrent" of marketing and simulated betting through video games was grooming children to wager and motivating riskier behaviour.


It advised a total phase-out of all betting advertising over 3 years.


Despite the review being unanimously backed throughout parliament with no dissenting remarks, Labor has dragged its feet on despite increasing pressure to ban wagering advertisements.


Australians currently rack up the world's highest gambling losses, placing $244.3 billion in bets every year.


Rates of gambling have actually increased given that 2019 and average annual losses rose from nearly $2000 per person to about $2500, according to the Australian Institute report.


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