Australia has a massive gambling problem

Australia has long been a gambling stronghold. According to the statistics, there is no other country in the world where the people lose more money per capita than in the densely populated city in the Southern Hemisphere. It is therefore no secret anymore that Australia has a massive gambling problem. What are the decision makers doing about this problem and why do the people there gamble so much?

In Australia there are only around 26 million people in an area of around 7688sqkm. According to the statistics this means that there are only 3.3 inhabitants per square km. As a comparison: in Germany there are 236 inhabitants, therefore over 70x more. Despite the fact that Australia is so densely populated and the distances are often far, the country seems to have a massive gambling problem. The Aussies dump several billion Australian Dollars each year in slots and other games of chance. In September 2021 we had already reported that a travel agent from Australia had gambled away nearly 630,000 USD in the casino.

In no other place are there so many slot machines as in Australia

Many Australians regularly play on slots. It is no wonder that when calculated it turned out to be the country with the most slot machines per inhabitant. Even the Aussies’ losses are enormous. Statistically seen every Australian loses an average 1,200 Australian Dollars per year. This comes up to the amount of 765 Euro. All citizens, even minors, are included. In no other country in the world do the people lose on average as much money on games of chance as in Australia. As a comparison: the inhabitants in Singapore lose half as much money per capita. And Singapore is in the second place after Australia as the nation with the highest losses in games of chance.

Meanwhile, the so-called “Pokies”, as the slot machines are called in Australia, are an important part of the culture of the country. The Aussies are not only interested in slot machines, but also in all other games of chance. Horseraces for example are especially popular in Australia. Since a long time, they have been an important social event in Down Under. In May 2021 on GambleJoe we had published an article about a casino without cash in Sydney.

Poor people are especially affected

A study published recently by the Australian government shows that poor population groups are especially affected by uncontrolled gambling and the consequences which the latter brings with it. It is actually the less wealthy Australians, who lose money regularly whilst gambling and then they tend to slide off socially. The situation is especially disastrous in Fairfield, a suburb of Sydney. The household income here was an average 1,222 Australian Dollar per week. According to the statistics every person here has lost over 5,600 Dollar per year in games of chance. This comes up to around 112 Dollar per week and is equal to more than 10 % of the household income. The government itself is doing nothing about this problem. In Europe there is much more effort. We had in fact reported about this in November of last year, namely about the European Safer Gambling Week 2022.

Conclusion

The population in Australia seems to be ruining itself by gambling. The government looks on, because the lobby interests of the gambling industry clash with better player protection. It is high time that this problem is contained, and the government protects the population better from the dangers of gambling.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/sydney-opernhaus-australien-3605032/