Gambling now costs families more than their power bills

Shock report show losses growing faster than housing costs

Spiraling gambling losses are a bigger drain on the household budget than the cost of electricity and gas while gambling losses are growing at a rate faster than the cost of housing.

These shocking new cost-of-living findings are revealed in a new report by consultants Equity Economics that was commissioned by The Alliance for Gambling Reform and Wesley Mission.

The research also revealed that Australia’s staggering annual gambling losses of $31.5b eclipses that spend by the Federal Government on aged care and almost rivals the expenditure for the NDIS.

Gambling losses amount to $1,527 for every adult in Australia with devastating financial impact on families. It is a hole in the bucket that continually drains critical household savings.

“Governments have responded swiftly in recent years to the cost-of-living crisis, but there had been a complete policy vacuum on mitigating the cost-of-living impacts of gambling,” the report said.

The CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Martin Thomas, said that for every person that gambles six other people are impacted. This makes gambling a critical but ignored cost-of-living pressure for families.

“Gambling reforms, such as banning gambling advertising, represent a non-inflationary, low-cost suite of initiatives that would bring profound relief to families who are struggling with rising prices of essentials,” he said.

The CEO of Wesley Mission, Rev. Stu Cameron, said for too long the household financial pressures created by our spiraling gambling losses have been ignored by our political leaders.

“Everyday we see the impact of gambling losses on families, yet for too long it has remained a hidden, unspoken black hole in household budgets that governments have failed to address,” he said.

“There is overwhelming public support for banning gambling advertising. It’s time for the major parties to stop dancing to the tune of the sports gambling industry and have the political will and moral courage to act in accordance with the community’s wishes”.

The Alliance and Wesley Mission today renewed their call for the government to implement in full the 31 recommendations of the Murphy parliamentary report into online gambling that called for a full ban on all gambling advertising, a ban on inducements and the establishment of a national gambling regulator.

The new research shows:  

• Australian households spent $3,045 on gambling in 2022-23 more than they spent on essential utilities like electricity, gas, and other fuels ($2,821)
  
• Gambling expenditure increased by 18.2%, more than expenditure growth on education (17.5%), housing (14.2%) and three times faster than growth in electricity, gas and other fuel expenditures.
• There has been a 25% spike in gambling losses on pre-pandemic losses
  
• Gambling losses have risen 6.8% while real wages have declined 5.7%
  
• Inflation across all goods and services rose 16% while gambling losses spiked up to 25%.
  
• Australia’s annual gambling losses ($31.5bn) now eclipse what governments spend on aged care ($28.3bn) and rivals that spent on the National Disability Insurance Scheme ($35.2bn)