The State of Gambling in Australia: Trends, Stats, and Insights
Hotels and clubs hold a venue operator’s licence and a permit/licence to operate each gaming machine within the licensed premises. All fantasy betting typically occurs through Corporate Bookmakers in Australia. There is co-mingling of state and territory totalisator pools through pooling arrangements, with three Australian totalisator pools currently in existence.
- There is no single overarching statute regulating gambling activities in Australia, nor is there a single overarching gambling authority.
- Online bingo is regulated by the state and territory gambling regulators detailed below.
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- According to the latest figures from Liquor and Gaming NSW there are 4,046 poker machines in 39 clubs on the Central Coast, and 626 poker machines in 29 hotels; making a total of 4,672 poker machines on the Central Coast.
- There is no specific legislation or body in Australia that regulates online casino gaming.
- One of the most distinctive features of Australian gambling culture is the widespread availability of electronic gaming machines (EGMs).
Gambling participation and harm on the rise in Australia, new study reveals
Research shows that most people who wager online do not use any strategies to limit or control their gambling. His gambling escalated in 2018, after he received unsolicited offers to bet with two of Australia’s largest online WSPs. The second is that there is insufficient regulation of online gambling and restrictions on gambling advertising in Australia, and our federal system makes it harder to achieve consistent approaches with national reach. 4.3There are two possible explanations for Australia’s world-leading online gambling losses.
Australians Averaged $1,276 Per Person On Gaming In 2019, A Little Decrease From The Preceding Year

Illegal gambling, like using unlicensed offshore sites, carries serious consequences. The 2017 IGA amendment further tightened rules by targeting offshore operators, ensuring only licensed betting services operate legally. Australia has strict rules to limit illegal gambling, especially online. International students in Australia can legally bet online or in-person, as long as they’re 18 or older and use licensed operators. In-play betting (live betting during events) is illegal online but allowed in-person or over the phone in some cases.
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The Majority Of The Aussies Regularly Gambles Online
While young men are more likely to experience harm from their own gambling, women, particularly young women, are most likely to experience harm from someone else’s gambling. But gambling can cause problems with relationships, work and study, emotional and psychological harm, and even cause health issues. This refers to those experiencing severe problems due to their gambling, which is typically about 1% of the adult population, and around 2% of people Internet Gambling Rules who gamble.
One-fifth of all respondents were small-risk gamblers, 31% were medium gamblers, and 30% were gambling addicts. Gambling involvement, frequency, and data loss indicate that betting is a widespread social and economic disease. Residents of New South Wales wasted a lot of money, estimated to be approximately $150 million, whereas Queenslanders reportedly lost $100 million. Keno is so prevalent in Australia that the country spent $350 million betting in 2018 and 2019. The number of Aussies who use poker machines has massively dropped by half in the previous 18 years, to 2.4 million from 4.8 million.
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- There is growing recognition of the need for a public health approach that addresses the broader social determinants of gambling harm—such as poverty, social isolation, and mental illness.
- For most players, gambling winnings are tax-free in Australia.
- A casino licence permits the relevant casino to typically offer traditional table games and gaming machines.
- Polling from the Australia Institute showed that 76% of Australians favour a complete ban on gambling advertisements, phased in over a three-year period.
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4.88By contrast, online WSPs told the Committee that their responsible service of gambling teams monitor customers’ betting behaviour to identify red flags and intervene to minimise harm. There is significant evidence to demonstrate that industry developed tools, such as time-outs, exclusions and deposit limits, are effective in creating change in customer wagering behaviour and limiting risk of the development of people experiencing gambling harm behaviours. Research conducted by GTRC prior to this measure’s implementation indicated that, of people who used online gambling consumer protection tools, between half and three-quarters wanted to see activity statements. 4.70Dr Angela Rintoul argued that a centralised account registration system for online gambling would provide consistent consumer protections across all wagering providers.
When it comes to searching for a place to become a High-Roller player at, it is vitally important to have an understanding if the selected casino perfectly suits your desires. Fortunately, we can trust in Australians to exercise responsible wagering as time progresses. Poker betting at pubs and clubs declined from 23% to 8%, whereas betting decreased from 4% -1%. Simultaneously, there was a considerable decrease in land-based gaming in Australia. Before the epidemic, 62% of individuals who bet did it online, but this rose to 78% during the pandemic.

4.121While this inquiry focussed on gambling harm, the Committee also heard from Australians who do not consider themselves to be experiencing harm and who say that the current regulatory system is not fair for them. ACMA only handles complaints about activities of unlicenced providers or if a licenced provider is offering credit or in-play betting, which are banned by the IGA. 4.117Most complaints and disputes with online WSPs must be raised with the relevant state or territory regulator in which the operator is licenced. 4.114Licenced online WSPs claimed they face an unlevel playing field with land-based gambling regarding crime prevention. FCA called for regulation to have a clear objective to keep gambling crime free, with guidelines to regulators to be developed by a legal taskforce.
A 2016 study showed 8- to 16-year-olds could name gambling brands, highlighting how normalised it is. Gambling is common in Australia, with pokies and sports betting leading the way, but it can become a problem for some. Regulators require operators to provide tools like deposit limits and activity statements.