'Alarming': One In Three Aussie Children Gambling

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


Gambling reform supporters say it's the result of a deliberate attempt by the betting market to groom children to bet from a really young age.


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


"It is both alarming and awful to understand that the number of teens gambling under the legal age would fill the MCG six times over."


The alliance is contacting all prospects in the upcoming federal election to commit 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 gambling through computer game was grooming kids to wager and motivating riskier behaviour.


It recommended a total phase-out of all gambling advertising over three years.


Despite the review being all backed across parliament with no dissenting remarks, Labor has actually dragged its feet on gambling reform despite increasing pressure to ban wagering ads.


Australians already rack up the greatest gambling losses, putting $244.3 billion in bets every year.


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


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