Report: Gambling participation and at-risk behaviour in problem gambling among Victorian adults 3 March 2021

This paper presents estimates of the prevalence of gambling participation (any expenditure on gambling activities in a typical month in 2015), annual gambling expenditure and gambling-related problems among Victorians aged 18 years and over, based on Wave 15 of the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.

Key findings:

• One-third of Victorians (36%, or around 1,587,709 adults) spent money on gambling activities in a typical month in 2015.
• Victorian adults who gambled were mostly: male (55%); aged fifty or over (56%); Australian-born (75%); employed full-time (46%) or retired (25%); married or in a de facto relationship (62%); and living in a major city (74%).
• Victorians who gambled spent an average of $1,268 annually on gambling activities in 2015; EGMs accounted for the highest annual expenditure ($1,288), followed by bingo ($1,252) and race betting ($1,211).
• Around 18% of Victorians who gambled (or 8% of all Victorian adults) were classified as being at risk of, or already experiencing, gambling-related problems.