Australia
31Oct05 – AAP - $17.4 billion was spent on gambling by Australians in the past year. The data shows we like a punt even more than we like a drink, with spending on alcohol coming in at $10.6 billion a year. The average Australian now spends about $17 a week on gambling, which is 3.5 per cent of the average household budget. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, compiled by CommSec, shows this is more than what is spent on petrol, even with the recent price increases. And the increase in spending on gambling still has legs, growing by 5.5 per cent in the past year when total household consumption only grew by 3.3 per cent. Spending on little luxuries like gambling, consumer electronics and eating out now take over 17.5 per cent of household spending, up from just over 14.5 per cent around a decade ago. At the same time spending on essential items like food, clothing, housing and transport is decreasing as a proportion of the total spend. All together essential items make up 45 per cent of total spending, down from about 48 per cent in 1997 and about 52.5 per cent in 1985.
The Tasmanian Gaming Commission calculated that in the 2002-'03 financial year a record 128.3 billion Australian dollars - (U.S. $92.9 billion) - was wagered nationally. Overall, gamblers lost around 15.3 billion Australian dollars (U.S. $11 billion). The lion's share of gambling went to slot machines, with more than 90 billion Australian dollars (U.S. $65.2 billion). Casinos received more than 17 billion Australian dollars. Government revenue from gambling reached 3.9 billion Australian dollars (U.S. $2.8 billion) in 2002-'03. In Victoria, taxes from all forms of gambling are forecast to make up 14.8% of state revenues this year (2004). For the other states, the share is between 8% and 12%.
The Salvation Army says more than 300,000 Australians are addicted to gambling and over 80 per cent of those are as a result of involvement with electronic gaming machines such as poker machines. New research released by the organization shows another 2 million people are affected by gambling, many of them family members or work colleagues of problem gamblers.