Just under one in four (22.8 per cent) of the Victorians we surveyed in 2019 had gambled in the previous month and 43.4 per cent said they didn’t gamble at all.

Of the women surveyed, 17.8 per cent had gambled in the previous month and almost half (49.8 per cent) said they never gambled. Of the men surveyed, 28.1 per cent had gambled in the previous month and just over a third (36.4 per cent) said they never gambled.

Young people (aged 18–34) were more likely to report that they didn’t gamble at all, but were also more likely to have gambled in the previous month than those in other age groups

Almost half (44.2 per cent) of those who gambled had either won or not spent money on gambling in the previous month. Young people (53.8 per cent) were more likely to report winning or not spending money on gambling in the previous month than people aged 35–54 (47.9 per cent) and 55+ (37.3 per cent).

Among those who could recall their monthly gambling spend, around one in 14 (7.2 per cent) had lost more than $100 in the previous month, with men around three times more likely to have done so than women. People aged 18–34 and 55+ were more than twice as likely to have lost more than $100 than those aged 35–54.

Financial limits

While most Victorians who gamble set financial limits, one in eight (12.8 per cent) never sets financial limits.

People aged 35–54 are less likely to set financial limits compared to other age groups.

Of those who set financial limits, 70.5 per cent report never exceeding their limit, 25.5 per cent do so occasionally, and 4 per cent exceed their limit on all or most occasions. People aged 55+ are less likely to exceed their financial limit than those in other age groups.

Time limits

Of Victorians who gamble, 45.3 per cent never set time limits and 43.3 per cent set time limits every time or most times they gamble.

People aged 55+ are more likely to set time limits on all or most gambling occasions than other age groups.

People aged 35–54 are more likely to gamble over their time limit than other age groups. Less than half of this group (48.6 per cent) said they never exceed their time limit, compared to more than two-thirds (68.3 per cent) of people aged 55+.

Men (5.9 per cent) are more than twice as likely as women (2.6 per cent) to always or often exceed their time limit.

The Foundation’s gambling calculator enables people to calculate how much time and money they spend on gambling a year, and how this compares to other Australians.

The YourPlay system helps people keep track of the time and money they spend on pokies, and to set limits if they choose.

Find out what survey participants thought about responsible gambling.

Read more about how the community attitudes survey was conducted.