Australians admit to gambling as kids

ABC NEWS (Australia)

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.

Transcript

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.

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