STORY: More Australians gambling at risky levels, report finds
SHOOTING TIME: July 31, 2024
DATELINE: July 31, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:11
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of lottery station
2. various of Australians in the shopping center
3. various of online gambling platforms for Australians

STORYLINE:

The number of Australians who gamble at risky levels is on the rise, new data has shown.
   
The new report, which was published by the Center for Gambling Research at the Australian National University (ANU) on Monday, found that more Australians have taken up online gambling.
   
It revealed that 60.3 percent of Australian adults had gambled in some form in the 12 months to January 2024 -- down slightly from 61.3 percent in 2023.
   
However, the proportion of the adult population who gamble at risky levels spiked from 11.6 percent in 2023 to 13.6 percent in 2024.
   
Buying lottery tickets remained the most popular form of gambling in the 12-month period to January 2024, with 46.8 percent of the adult population having done so.
   
Over one third of adults -- 33.4 percent -- gambled online in the same period.
   
A separate report also published by the Center for Gambling Research on Monday found that 1.2 million Australians -- or more than 5 percent of the adult population -- had been personally affected by someone else's gambling in the last 12 months.
   
People who were affected by another's gambling tended to be younger, earning a lower income, experiencing problems related to their own gambling and dealing with psychological distress, Suomi said.
   
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australians lose approximately 25 billion Australian dollars (16.4 billion U.S. dollars) on legal forms of gambling every year, representing the largest per capita losses in the world.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)