Australian gambling participation has settled at roughly 60% of adults after a pandemic-era slump, according to a study by the Australian National University (ANU) reported by iGaming Business. The same research found the share of people gambling at risky levels has increased.

Participation steadies after Covid

The ANU said the gambling participation rate was 65.6% of the population in 2019, before the pandemic. By the time of its 2024 study, participation had fallen to 60.3%. Researchers suggested the dip fits a long-term downward trend that was accelerated by Covid-19 shutting retail venues.

The report said participation dropped close to 50% of the adult population during the pandemic. In its words:

"While the participation rate dropped close to 50% of adult population during Covid-19, this data suggests that the 'new normal' gambling participation rate has plateaued at around 60%," the report said.

The comparison comes with a caveat. The 2024 study drew on 4,027 adult participants, against 2,054 in the 2019 edition. The source material does not explain how, or whether, the researchers adjusted for the difference in sample size, and it does not disclose margins of error.

From venues to online

The study found participants have moved away from in-venue betting towards online play: 33.4% said they gambled online, compared with 28.6% in person. Online use was most common among 45-55-year-olds, who made up 20.5% of the online sample (which includes lottery betting). The 25-34 age group accounted for 18.7% of online users.

According to the report, online gamblers were typically younger, more likely to be in full-time work and to have higher incomes, and more likely to be part of a couple with children. Across the whole population, 28.5% of online gamblers held a university degree and 47.2% had post-school certificates or diplomas.

In-person gamblers skewed older. People aged 65-74 made up 21.2% of that group, and adults over 45 accounted for 66.1%. Women made up 53.8% of in-person gambling activity but 42.1% of online gamblers.

By product, lottery was the most popular form of gambling, played by 46.8% of those surveyed, followed by raffles (23.4%) and scratchcards (15.7%). Sports betting, often seen as a major part of the Australian market, was reported by just 4.7% of the population, though 94.2% of those bets were placed online. Casino table games made up 2.7% of the sample's gambling activity. The source does not break down how that casino activity was conducted. Online casino services are prohibited in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

Risky gambling is up

The most notable finding for consumer protection is that "risky gambling" rose from 11.6% in 2023 to 13.7% in 2024. The report said the proportion of people gambling at risky levels now exceeds the pre-Covid-19 rate. It also found the share of people who do not gamble has increased slightly over the past 12 months, consistent with the plateau in participation.

The ANU used the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), which is also used by the UK Gambling Commission. On that scale, a score of 1-2 is low risk, 3-7 is moderate risk and 8 or more is considered problem gambling. The ANU said it used "risky" to describe anyone scoring 1 or more, and insisted this was different from "high-risk gambling". That means the 13.7% figure covers a wide range of severity, including people at the low-risk end of the scale.

What is not known

The source material does not name the report's authors or title, state who funded it, or explain the survey method beyond the sample sizes. It also does not say how much of the rise in risky gambling falls into each PGSI band, so the share experiencing serious harm cannot be determined from the figures published. Readers should treat the numbers as survey estimates, not a count of individuals affected.

People concerned about their gambling can contact Gambling Help Online or call 1800 858 858.