The Australian Gambling Context
A quick look at the numbers puts things in perspective. According to the National Gambling Prevalence Study Pilot (2024) conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, 65.1% of Australian adults participated in at least one form of gambling in the 12 months to October 2024.
Online gamblers are nearly five times more likely to experience moderate-to-high-risk gambling (9.2%) compared to non-online gamblers (2.1%). Problem gambling rates are approximately three times higher among people who gamble online compared to those who gamble solely in land-based venues.
In NSW, gaming machines remain the single largest contributor to gambling harm, responsible for 54.8% of gambling harm, while sports betting and racing account for 16.5%. As crash games share several structural features with high-risk products (rapid continuous play, high-volatility payouts, strong visual reinforcement), their potential for harm should not be underestimated.