There is limited longitudinal data examining national gambling trends in Australia. This study examines longitudinal trends in gambling participation and higher-risk gambling in Australia from 2015 to 2022 using data from the nationally representative Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) panel study. Study participants were HILDA respondents aged 15 and older in 2015, 2018, or 2022 who completed the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI; N = 44,836 observations). Gambling participation was based on self-reported typical monthly expenditure on 10 gambling activities. Gambling risk was assessed using the 9-item PGSI and categorised as low-risk (0-2) or higher-risk (3+) gambling. Age and sex were included as socio-demographic variables. The results indicated that monthly gambling participation declined from 37.1% in 2015 to 32.9% in 2022 but levels of higher-risk gambling did not reduce at the same rate. Higher-risk gambling was independently associated with participation in electronic gaming machines (EGMs; OR = 8.0, p < 0.001), race betting (OR = 2.3, p < 0.001) and sports betting (OR = 1.5, p = 0.01). These were the most popular forms of gambling among those aged under 25. Although overall gambling participation in Australia has declined to 2022, this did not result in a reduction to higher-risk gambling. Young adults were the least likely to gamble, but show disproportionate participation in EGMs, race, and sports betting, and an increasing rate of higher-risk gambling.
Chilver et al. (Tue,) studied this question.