'Alarming': One In 3 Aussie Children Gambling

About one in 3 Aussie kids are chancing on their futures, losing more than $18 million to gambling each year.


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


That's 600,000 teens betting each year.


Gambling reform advocates say it's the result of a deliberate attempt by the gaming industry to groom children to gamble from a really young age.


"There is evidence that the gambling market targets kids as young as 14 years of ages through social media, prompting them to download betting ads, and the saturation of betting ads around our major football codes is also tempting kids to gamble," Alliance for Gambling Reform chief executive Martin Thomas stated.


"It is both alarming and terrible to comprehend that the number of teens betting under the legal age would fill the MCG six times over."


The alliance is getting in touch with all prospects in the upcoming federal election to commit to the suggestions made following the into online betting, chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.


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


It advised an overall phase-out of all betting advertising over three years.


Despite the evaluation being unanimously backed across parliament with no dissenting remarks, Labor has actually dragged its feet on gambling reform regardless of increasing pressure to ban wagering ads.


Australians already acquire the world's highest gaming losses, positioning $244.3 billion in bets every year.


Rates of gambling have actually increased considering that 2019 and typical annual losses increased from almost $2000 per person to about $2500, according to the Australian Institute report.


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