Almost 200,000 people in Australia struggle with problem gambling, according to new figures.
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (Hilda) is a long-running survey of the nation’s households. The survey has for the first time added questions about gambling, as, according to the authors, there is no ongoing national survey of gambling activity and the socioeconomic factors associated with it.
So what does this new data tell us about gambling in Australia?
Gambling is widespread, particularly among older men. Men are more likely to gamble than women, and the incidence of gambling in a typical month increases with age.
Men also spend more on average than women when they gamble, with the highest expenditure occurring in the middle-aged and older age groups.
Lotto or similar lottery games are the most common type of gambling, followed by scratchies and then the pokies.
However, in terms of the average spend, gamblers spend more on poker, followed by the pokies and then gambling on horse or dog races.
The Hilda survey estimates that problem gambling only affects 1.5% of men, and 0.8% of women. However, while this is a small proportion, in population terms this is around 200,000 people.
The report also looked at the association between various socioeconomic factors and problem gambling. This analysis found that men and Indigenous people were slightly more likely to be problem gamblers. There was also a small association between lifestyle factors, such as smoking and drinking.
