The New South Wales Gambling Survey 2019 revealed that the number of adults who are actively gambling in the region has slumped by 12% in the last eight years. However, more than half of adult residents still like to gamble.

What does the survey suggest?

The Responsible Gambling Fund commissioned a survey of 10,000 people to determine the state of the gambling industry in the region. It revealed that about 53% of NSW adults took part in some type of gambling activity in the last 12 months. In 2011, the number of adults who gambled in the past 12 months was 65%.

Despite the falling percentage of gamblers, problem gambling stats have remained relatively flat. In 2011, the percentage of problem gamblers in the region was 0.8% which has now increased to 1%. The surveyors also assessed people’s responses to the Problem Gambling Severity Index to determine that at least 7.2% of gamblers may face a moderate risk when it comes to experiencing gambling-related harm.

The survey suggests that younger people are more vulnerable to problem gambling issues. At least 14.9% of gambling patrons aged 18 to 24 are at a “moderate” risk of experiencing problem gambling. Single men, who are unemployed or getting income from welfare schemes, living in rented spaces and staying near low socioeconomic areas experience more problems with gambling. To tackle these issues, the government has allotted A$35 million to the responsible gambling program in this year’s budget.

More details about how NSW people gamble

For most NSW residents, lotteries are the most popular type of gambling. Gaming machines are the second most common types of gambling, followed by instant scratch cards and betting on races. About 8% of respondents have gambled online, and race betting is their favorite type of online gambling.

When it comes to gambling expenditure, gaming takes the cake. Of the total A$9.53 billion spent on gambling in 2016-17, A$8.4 billion went towards gaming. Racing entered the second spot with an expenditure of A$976 million whole sports betting witnessed A$152 total expenditure. At least 73% of the gambling expenditure is contributed by gaming machines alone.

The state government noted,

“The NSW government is committed to preventing and minimizing gambling harm. The information gathered from this survey will inform prevention, education and treatment initiatives, as well as policy development and regulatory efforts.”

It has employed Central Queensland University to review its existing measures for responsible gambling and expects to publish the results in 2020.