'Alarming': One In 3 Aussie Children Gambling

About one in three Aussie kids are rolling the dice on their futures, losing more than $18 million to gambling each year.


The most recent findings released by think tank the Australia Institute reveal 30 per cent 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 betting each year.


Gambling reform supporters say it's the result of a deliberate attempt by the gambling industry to groom children to bet from an extremely young age.


"There is evidence that the betting industry targets kids as young as 14 years old through social media, urging them to download gambling ads, and the saturation of gambling ads around our significant football codes is also drawing kids to gamble," Alliance for Gambling Reform president Martin Thomas said.


"It is both alarming and terrible to comprehend that the variety of teens betting under the legal age would fill the MCG 6 times over."


The alliance is getting in touch with all candidates in the upcoming federal election to dedicate to the recommendations made following the Murphy questions into online gambling, chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.


The query's 2023 report found a "torrent" of marketing and simulated gaming through computer game was grooming kids to bet and encouraging riskier behaviour.


It suggested an overall phase-out of all gambling advertising over three years.


Despite the evaluation being all backed throughout parliament with no dissenting remarks, Labor has dragged its feet on betting reform in spite of increasing pressure to prohibit wagering ads.


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


Rates of betting have increased given that 2019 and losses rose from nearly $2000 per individual to about $2500, according to the Australian Institute report.


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