The Foundation-funded Victorian population gambling and health study 2018–2019 found lotteries were the most common form of gambling in Victoria in 2018, with 44 per cent of the adult population participating in lotteries in the preceding 12 months. This was closely followed by buying tickets in raffles, sweeps and other competitions.

Almost one in five people bet on horse and dog racing and one in seven people gambled on pokies.

Pubs and hotels were the most common venues used for gambling on pokies. Find out more about the distribution of pokies across Victoria.

Gambling on pokies dropped from one person in six in 2014 to one in seven in 2018. This downward trend has been steady since 2003¹, when one in three Victorian adults gambled on pokies. However, it has not been accompanied by a decline in problem gambling.

Participation in the various gambling activities has not changed greatly, though there is a 1 per cent increase in both sports betting and betting on casino table games. The uptake of online gambling has also increased significantly in relation to sports betting – in 2018, 71.1 per cent of people used apps or online Australian-based bookmakers.

A Foundation-funded study investigated the gambling attitudes and behaviours of young men who bet on sport. Of the young men surveyed, around half bet weekly or more. Of those, one in four was classified as a problem gambler. Weekly bettors were more likely to gamble on a larger number of sports, and to do so in riskier ways, including while drinking alcohol. Read more in the 2018 report: Weighing up the odds: young men, sports and betting.