Groundbreaking research project to map gambling in ACT
Gambling trends, habits, and harms in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) will be analysed over the next few months, for the first time since COVID-19 restrictions rapidly shifted the way Australians gamble.
The ACT’s Gambling and Racing Commission has awarded the contract for the 2024 Survey on Gambling in the ACT to CQUniversity’s Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory (EGRL) team.
The project will capture emerging trends in gambling activities, gambling harm, problem gambling, and help-seeking within the ACT community.
CQUniversity’s researchers will also explore issues experienced by people who gamble, their partners and families, and flow-on effects to their workplaces and communities.
Professor Matthew Rockloff is a lead researcher at CQUniversity, and head of the EGRL.
He says that the past five years since the last Survey on Gambling in the ACT in 2019 have seen big shifts in how Australians gamble.
“We know lockdowns and venue closures temporarily reduced access to high-risk gambling products like poker machines and sports betting shops,” Prof Rockloff explained.
“In that time, gamblers may have experimented with non-traditional methods; for instance, online casinos, virtual pokies, or international sports betting.
“This survey is an opportunity to see whether habits have since reverted, and whether some groups are now betting more broadly across a bigger range of gambling products.”
Technology has also seen the growing use of smartphones to gamble, and gambling companies directly marketing new products and inducements to consumers.
“Our smartphones mean that the vast majority of people have gambling platforms in their pocket, and this will be the first time the Survey on Gambling in the ACT exclusively targets mobile phone numbers – rather than landline and mobile,” Prof Rockloff said.
“This method will enhance survey representativeness and give a more accurate picture of people’s gambling habits.
"We are excited to partner with the Gambling and Racing Commission. The research will provide valuable insights to inform evidence-based policies and programs aimed at reducing gambling harm in the ACT."
Across August and September, the survey will gather interviews of over 10,000 ACT residents aged 18 and above. It will be conducted using state-of-the-art telephone interviewing facilities, via leading market researchers Ipsos Australia.
A comprehensive report will be delivered to the Gambling and Racing Commission, outlining the key findings.
CQUniversity is a leader in gambling research, with a team of experts conducting extensive research on the social and economic impacts of gambling.
Yu-Lan Chan, the CEO of the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission welcomes the partnership with CQU in this important study.
“This five-yearly population-level survey on gambling in the ACT is perhaps the most important piece of research that the Commission undertakes. I encourage anyone contacted to take part in the survey."
Past research conducted by the EGRL shows that gambling negatively impacts one in six Australians, with people who gamble losing close to $25 billion a year nationally. In the ACT, losses amount to $364 million a year.
The Gambling and Racing Commission is responsible for regulating gambling in the ACT. The Commission is committed to providing evidence-based gambling harm prevention initiatives, and the reduction of gambling-related harm underpins all the Commission’s roles and functions.
