A survey out today has found a third of Australians admitted to gambling before they turn 18. Findings identify that Australian youths partaking in underage drinking and gambling are at higher risk of misuse as adults.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Well, the data from this research has been quite shocking, but the findings have provided
00:06an insight into some of the main drivers behind youth gambling addiction.
00:11What it's found is that young people believe that gambling and alcohol consumption under
00:16the age of 18 is often seen as sort of this rite of passage and it's been linked directly
00:21to increased risky behaviour as well as ongoing gambling addictions when young people enter
00:26into adulthood.
00:27So this was a 20 minute online survey, it had more than 1100 people take part from right
00:33across the country aged between 16 and 35 years old.
00:37But perhaps what was most interesting was how this data was collected.
00:41The online social media advertisements targeted participants that leaned particularly towards
00:47gambling ads.
00:48Now what data found was there was an increase in spike behaviour towards pokies and sport
00:54event betting amongst men, while for women it was an increase in lotto participation
00:59and keno that seemed to be the gambling addiction of choice.
01:03The data also showed that 68% of participants who took part in the survey had reported adverse
01:09and negative gambling harmful experiences, but 88% of those said they did not report
01:16or seek out help.
01:17So that was a major concern and for one of the authors of this research, Dr Kai Sakata,
01:22says that the main concern is that one third of people that took part in the survey say
01:27that they often view gambling as sort of a means to make money and to become financially
01:32stable which is despite decades of research that have suggested the complete opposite.
01:37So the Australian Institute of Family Studies has called on licensed venues to change their
01:42behaviour to ensure they reduce and mitigate the risk of young people sort of getting into
01:47gambling addictions by ensuring that they don't encourage environments that encourage
01:51co-consumption of alcohol and gambling to reduce this effectively.