Gambling losses outstrip energy costs for cash-strapped families: report

Posted on 11 Mar 2025

By Greg Thom, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia

As the federal government drags its feet on promised gambling advertising reform, a new report has revealed the extent of gambling’s impact on Australians hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis.

The study, commissioned by the Alliance for Gambling Reform and Wesley Mission, revealed that spiralling gambling losses are a bigger drain on household budgets than the cost of electricity and gas.

Gambling in Australia’s Cost-of-living-crisis: The Unspoken Black Hole in Household Budgets, produced by Equity Economics, found that the $31.5 billion Australians now lose to gambling every year is higher than the amount the federal government spends on aged care.

The study revealed that in 2023, each adult in Australia who gambled lost an average $2,492, punching a hole in already stretched family budgets.

A parliamentary report into online gambling by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy made 31 recommendations, including a ban on all gambling advertising, a ban on inducements and the establishment of a national gambling regulator.

Since receiving the Murphy report in June 2023, the Albanese government has been accused of bowing to intense behind the scenes lobbying by sporting codes such as the AFL and NRL and has shelved any reforms until after the upcoming federal election.

The Equity Economics report is critical of the lack of government action to address the role of gambling losses in compounding economic stress for many Australians.

“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 found.

“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.”

Martin Thomas, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform.

Australian households spent $3,045 each on gambling in 2022–23, more than on essential utilities such as electricity and gas ($2,821)
Gambling expenditure increased by 18.2 per cent in 2022–23, outstripping increases in education (17.5 per cent) and housing (14.2 per cent)
Gambling losses have increased by more than 25 per cent on pre-covid levels
Since June 2019, gambling losses have increased 6.8 per cent while real wages have declined by 5.7 per cent
Inflation across all goods and services increased 16 per cent in the four years from June 2019, while gambling losses jumped 25 per cent
Australia’s annual gambling losses in 2022–23 ($31.5 billion) eclipsed government aged care spending for the same period ($28.3 billion)

Source: Gambling in Australia’s Cost-of-living Crisis: The Unspoken Black Hole in Household Budgets

The CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Martin Thomas, said that for every person who gambles, six other people are affected, highlighting gambling’s role as a critical but ignored cost-of-living pressure for many 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 political leaders had ignored the household financial pressures created by climbing gambling losses.

“Every day 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.

Cameron said there was 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.”