Urgent action needed to tackle gambling harm as report reveals Australians lose an average of $1,600 annually.

The Grattan Institute reports that gambling losses in Australia are nearly double those in the US, and poker machines are more prevalent in Australian suburbs than ATMs, public toilets, or post boxes. According to the report, titled A Better Bet: How Australia Should Prevent Gambling Harm, the government needs to take urgent action, including banning gambling ads and implementing a mandatory pre-commitment loss limit for both online gambling and poker machines.

The report also suggests reducing the number of poker machines over several years, as Australian adults lose an average of $1,635 annually to gambling, primarily through pokies and betting, compared to $809 for Americans and $584 for New Zealanders. Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally emphasized that the gambling industry in Australia has been allowed to “run wild,” leading to severe consequences for gamblers and their communities, including financial ruin, relationship breakdowns, and even suicide.

Although the government is considering a partial ban on gambling ads—limiting them during children’s programming, live sports, and general programming—Sathanapally insists more needs to be done. The report calls for loss limits to protect individuals from catastrophic financial harm, particularly in disadvantaged areas where poker machines are heavily concentrated.

In states like New South Wales, where poker machines are especially prevalent, poorer communities face disproportionate losses. For instance, residents of Fairfield lose an average of $3,967 annually on pokies, triple the state average. Similar trends are seen in Victoria, where communities like Brimbank and Dandenong have consistently led in gambling losses for over a decade.