FACT/COMMENT: Gambling in Australia

Australians love to piss their money in the wind. Gambling in Australia has assumed ridiculous proportions - you basically can't go to pubs anywhere 'cos they're nothing more than boring casinos, full of one-armed bandits, and that's just the clientele. Boom tish. Seriously: gaming and gambling is a huge social problem in Australia, and, as usual here, it's ignored and/or not being taken seriously. Just as with alcohol, Australians can't seem to handle having fun very well. The notion of the "harmless flutter" persists, all evidence to the contrary be damned. And if you think that this sounds too "Killjoy was here" (and if you're Australian, you will), consider this:

"In 1998, the average Australian household lost around 3% of its disposable income on gambling. This is almost a doubling since 1973, when the equivalent figure was 1.6%. (...) In 2001, the average Australian adult's gambling losses totalled around $1000. (...) According to the Productivity Commission data, the United States [home of Las Vegas, remember] has 64% of the world total of high-intensity gaming machines, while Australia, with around 0.3% of the world's population, has 20%." (Tiffen and Gittins, p. 237)

Another interesting figure is this:

Expenditure on gaming machines per adult ($A) per year, 1999

1. Australia 420
2. Japan 370
3. New Zealand 160
4. USA 150
5. UK 90

(Source: Tiffen and Gittens, p. 236)

Australians outspend (and consequently lose more money than, and are consequently bigger suckers than) the gaming-mad Japanese and the Las Vegas-glorifying Yanks. Another top effort there, Australians.