Community attitudes survey 2023: Who gambles?

Just under one in five (18 per cent) of the Victorians we surveyed in 2023 had gambled regularly, at least once a month or more, and 31 per cent said they didn’t gamble at all.

Of those surveyed, 26 per cent of males had gambled regularly, compared to 11 per cent of females.

11%

of women had gambled in the previous month.

26%

of men had gambled in the previous month.

Frequency of gambling - graph

People who gamble regularly by age - graph

WHAT DO PEOPLE WHO GAMBLE THINK ABOUT THEIR GAMBLING?

The majority (81 per cent) of respondents who gambled in the past year strongly agreed that they felt in control of their gambling, however, one in ten (9 per cent) disagreed this was the case.

Four out of five respondents (79 per cent) who had gambled during the past year strongly agreed with the statement ‘I could stop gambling anytime I wanted to’. Respondents who were classified as having gambling problems were less likely to be in strong agreement with this statement (31 per cent).

One in ten (10 per cent) of people who gamble strongly agreed that they’d ‘really like to reduce or stop gambling’. This increased to one in three (30 per cent) of people who were classified as having gambling problems. The majority of Victorians (68 per cent) did not wish to reduce or stop gambling and 78 per cent did not feel their behaviour was impacting them negatively.

EXPERIENCES AMONG REGULAR GAMBLERS

People who gambled regularly (around once a month or more) were more likely to report that they had thought about the impact gambling has on their financial situation, and whether they would benefit from cutting back. Around one in three (30 per cent) of respondents had thought about whether they would benefit from cutting down on their gambling.

Among respondents who gambled regularly:

31 per cent had thought about the impact of gambling on their financial situation
10 per cent had thought about the impact of their gambling on their friends and family
9 per cent thought about the impact of gambling on their health.

Around six in ten (64 per cent) of respondents strongly agreed they are open with their family and friends about their gambling. This decreased to one in three (31 per cent) among people classified as experiencing problem gambling according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).

While 78 per cent thought their gambling activity didn’t harm anyone, 14 per cent agreed that their family or close friends get upset with their gambling, and similarly, 14 per cent agreed that they feel ashamed about their gambling.