Australian problem gamblers contribute 34% of the total bets value

Australians have been some of the world’s most prolific gamblers, but they may also be some of the most vulnerable ones, as new polling by Roy Morgan now puts the estimated value of bets coming from people with a problem gambling at 34% of the total.

Problem gamblers in Australia contribute a third of the value of all bets

The polling results were released by the Alliance for Gambling Reform, a not-for-profit organization fighting for tightening of gambling rules and calling for higher consumer protections for consumers in the country, which envisage harsher measures for businesses operating gambling products.

Commenting on these results in an official statement, the AGR’s Interim Chief Executive, Martin Thomas, said that consumers are historically high risk and further indicated how "predatory" the online gambling industry has become, roping in new generations in reckless gambling.

"We know that last year there were over a million gambling ads bombarding our screens. We have to stop this," Thomas added, echoing his organization’s direr warning that the gambling industry is "grooming" children and young people.

The announcement came with a further breakdown of the stats collected by the pollster. According to the polling results, which interviewed 16,000 people, one in ten or 337,000 people in the country are indeed problem gamblers, and although they are account for only around 10% of the total gambling population, they contribute about 34% of the total value of bets wagered through regulated websites.

According to the pollster, another 544,000 people in Australia, or 17% of the gambling population, are classified as moderate-risk gamblers. This classification is based on a Problem Gambling Severity Index which distinguishes between Low, Moderate, and Problem Gambling players.

The results also found that some gambling companies could have as many as 20% of their customer bases as problem gamblers. As to the total tally, 881,000 of all Australian punters are in fact moderate or problem gamblers.

Australia needs to step up its efforts in protecting gamblers

Thomas has criticized that there has been a lot of advertising that has led to the "normalization" of gambling, creating an equivalency between sports and gambling in the minds of many Australians, and especially those the most at risk – young people and children.

Australia has indeed been paying attention to problem gambling. The country has launched the BetStop national self-exclusion program, which has been mostly hailed as a success.

Plus, Australia recently implemented gambling rules that prohibit the use of credit cards for the purposes of gambling. The country is addressing years of unchecked gambling practices, but it will inevitably have to deal with the fallout of having created too many problem gamblers while it bade it time to act.

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