Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated
100 Australia Sports Betting Statistics for 2026
Looking for a national sports-betting figure? Start with the denominator. A population participation rate, a rate among regular gamblers and a state survey answer different questions. The national pilot findings below are followed by detailed NSW and Victorian evidence.
This page keeps sports participation separate from racing. Only the historical advertising sections combine sports and race betting, matching the original AIFS research. These observations describe their stated survey periods; the update stamp does not turn older research into current-year data.
Headline figures
- 7.6% of NSW adults reported sports betting in the past year in the 2024 survey. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Among NSW men, 12.8% reported past-year sports betting in 2024. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Among NSW women, 2.5% reported past-year sports betting in 2024. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Among NSW sports bettors in 2024, 88.4% used online channels including apps during the past year. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- In 2024, 53% of surveyed Victorians strongly agreed that gambling should not be part of experiencing sport. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- In 2024, 37% of surveyed Victorians strongly agreed that young people under 18 think betting on sport is normal. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- In 2024, 53% of surveyed Victorians strongly agreed they were concerned that sports betting was normalised in society. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Among Victorian parents with children aged 12–17, 48% reported speaking with their children about sports-betting harms in 2024. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 12.5% of Australian adults in the 2024 AIFS pilot reported sports betting during the preceding twelve months. (AIFS, Sep 2025)
- Among people who gambled at least monthly in the 2024 AIFS pilot, 15.4% participated in sports betting. (AIFS, Sep 2025)
- Among men who gambled at least monthly in the 2024 AIFS pilot, 21.6% participated in sports betting. (AIFS, Sep 2025)
- Among women who gambled at least monthly in the 2024 AIFS pilot, 7.9% participated in sports betting. (AIFS, Sep 2025)
Who participates in sports betting in New South Wales?
A national headline hides differences between people and survey designs. NSW's telephone study separates sports from racing, allowing its participation estimates to retain a clear product definition. These are population-group rates, not shares of the betting market.
How do location, language and gender relate to participation?
- Greater Sydney: 7.7%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- The rest of NSW: 7.3%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Non-Indigenous respondents: 7.4%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander respondents: 13.1%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- English-only households: 8.0%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Households speaking another language: 5.2%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Among NSW non-binary/gender-diverse respondents, 7.5% reported past-year sports betting in 2024. (CQU, Oct 2024)
The NSW study found different participation levels across demographic groups. Each percentage below concerns the named group's past-year sports betting, instead of its contribution to all betting. The overall and male/female results appear in Main Takeaways. These descriptive comparisons do not establish that language, identity or location causes betting behaviour. The gender-diverse estimate comes from a smaller group and merits additional caution.
What do employment, education and household differences show?
- Respondents not currently married: 8.1%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Respondents married or living with a partner: 7.8%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Respondents not working: 3.7%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Working respondents: 10.3%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Respondents without tertiary education: 9.0%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Respondents with tertiary education: 6.9%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Households without children: 7.0%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Households with children: 10.0%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Respondents not cohabiting with another adult: 6.0%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Respondents cohabiting with another adult: 8.6%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
Employment and household characteristics describe who reported sports betting. They do not measure affordability, financial loss or the safety of participating. The categories below come from the NSW study's demographic table, with the relevant subgroup as the denominator. Being in a household with children does not mean that a child placed a bet. These results concern the responding adult.
How does reported participation vary by personal income?
- Nil or negative personal income: 1.2%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Personal income of A$30,000 or less: 4.1%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Personal income of A$30,000–49,999: 5.5%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Personal income of A$50,000–69,999: 7.7%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Personal income of A$70,000–99,999: 8.5%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Personal income of A$100,000–149,999: 11.8%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Personal income of at least A$150,000: 14.3%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
The NSW table shows an income gradient in reported participation. Its income bands refer to annual personal income, not household wealth or money allocated to betting. The results cannot establish that betting improves income or that higher-income participants experience less harm. Survey estimates at the extremes may be less precise than central categories. Monetary amounts below are Australian dollars; participation percentages refer to the previous year.
How do NSW sports bettors place bets and how often?
Channels overlap, and participation frequency does not measure money lost. NSW's method and frequency questions use different respondent bases, so their percentages should not be combined into a single customer profile.
Which physical and telephone channels remain in use?
- A stadium bookmaker, TAB outlet or kiosk: 4.2%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- A TAB kiosk or terminal at a club or hotel: 12.8%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- A stand-alone TAB shop: 3.5%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Any physical venue: 16.6%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- A phone call: 3.4%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- Another method: 0.7%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
Physical venues and telephone calls remained part of reported betting behaviour. The online result is in Main Takeaways; the remaining figures below use the same sports-bettor base. Respondents could use several methods, so a physical venue can overlap with online betting. The aggregate venue measure also overlaps its individual venue categories. These proportions should not be summed or interpreted as exclusive market shares. They count people reporting a method, not transactions, stakes or revenue.
How frequently did respondents bet on sports?
- 1–5 times per year: 40.2%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- 6–11 times per year: 12.8%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- 12–23 times per year: 16.1%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- 24–51 times per year: 11.0%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
- 52 or more times per year: 19.8%. (CQU, Oct 2024)
Frequency ranged from occasional participation to betting throughout the year. These mutually exclusive categories concern sports bettors who answered the frequency question, a slightly narrower base than the channel question. The source's frequency chart and headline participation table consequently have slightly different bases. Frequency alone reveals neither the amount staked nor net losses. A respondent betting rarely can still place a large wager, while repeated bets can be small. The survey records recalled occasions, not independently audited transactions.
How do Victorians view sports betting?
Normalisation is a perception, not a participation measure. Victoria's attitude study asks adults what they think about betting around sport; their views about children are not children's own answers.
Is betting normalised among friends and family?
- 2024: sports betting was normalised among their friends, 15%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2023: sports betting was normalised among their friends, 17%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2022: sports betting was normalised among their friends, 16%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024: sports betting was normalised in their family, 7%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2023: sports betting was normalised in their family, 8%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2022: sports betting was normalised in their family, 6%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
Strong agreement about friends was more common than strong agreement about family in this Victorian series. The statements are perceptions reported by adults, instead of direct observations of relatives' betting. Each result uses the named annual survey and the same strong-agreement threshold of scores8–10. A change in the percentage does not automatically establish a statistically significant change. Friends and family are separate statements, so their percentages cannot be added to estimate overall social acceptance.
Does betting improve sport or raise concerns?
- 2024: placing a bet makes sport more enjoyable, 8%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2023: placing a bet makes sport more enjoyable, 8%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2022: placing a bet makes sport more enjoyable, 8%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2023: gambling should not be part of experiencing sport, 55%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2022: gambling should not be part of experiencing sport, 57%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 societal concern, PGSI non-problem group: 50%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 societal concern, PGSI low-risk group: 51%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 societal concern, PGSI moderate-risk group: 46%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 societal concern, PGSI problem group: 42%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
The Victorian survey separates enjoyment from concern about normalisation. The current result for keeping gambling out of sport appears in Main Takeaways. Remaining observations include historical responses and concern among groups classified by the Problem Gambling Severity Index. A risk-category comparison is descriptive and does not show that concern prevents gambling problems. Strong agreement is a deliberately narrower measure than all agreement.
What do adults believe young people consider normal?
- 2023: young people under 18 think betting on sport is normal, 41%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2022: young people under 18 think betting on sport is normal, 40%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Parents of under-18s, 2024, youth normalisation statement: 32%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Parents of under-18s, 2023, youth normalisation statement: 42%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- In 2023, 57% of surveyed Victorians strongly agreed they were concerned that sports betting was normalised in society. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- In 2022, 58% of surveyed Victorians strongly agreed they were concerned that sports betting was normalised in society. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
Adults expressed views about young people's acceptance of sports betting. The parent-only observations have a narrower denominator than the all-Victorian observations. Neither is a survey of young people's actual attitudes or behaviour. Historical societal-concern results are included separately because they ask about the wider community, not specifically children. The current all-adult youth and societal-concern observations appear in Main Takeaways. Changes over time should be read within this study, without combining it with NSW's telephone participation estimates.
What do Victorian parents discuss with their children?
A conversation about betting is not evidence that a child has placed a bet. These results describe parent-reported discussions and their content, preserving the distinction between all eligible parents and parents who held such a conversation.
How common are discussions and what messages lead?
- Among Victorian parents with children aged 12–17, 53% reported speaking with their children about sports-betting harms in 2023. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Among Victorian parents with children aged 12–17, 55% reported speaking with their children about sports-betting harms in 2022. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: the limited chances of winning, 71%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: gambling's addictive nature, 69%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: the potential for all gambling types to cause harm, 59%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: enjoying sport without needing to bet, 54%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
Parents reported both whether they talked and what they discussed. The latest discussion prevalence is in Main Takeaways. Historical prevalence below uses all surveyed parents with children in the specified age range; topic percentages use only parents who had discussed sports-betting harms. Topic choices overlap. The study says the latest year-to-year change in discussion prevalence was not statistically significant, so a downward point estimate is not proof of a population decline.
What other topics and parent groups appear?
- Discussion topic: alternative ways to spend money, 43%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: someone they knew experiencing gambling's negative consequences, 38%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: social pressure to gamble, 38%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: links between video/online games and gambling, 33%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- Discussion topic: recognising hidden signs of gambling problems, 27%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 discussions, PGSI non-problem parent group: 49%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 discussions, PGSI low-risk parent group: 58%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
- 2024 discussions, PGSI moderate-risk parent group: 54%. (VGCCC, Feb 2025)
The remaining discussion topics include hands-on alternatives, social pressure and recognising problems. They describe content within conversations about sports-betting harms even when the chosen message concerns gambling more broadly. The separate risk-group results return to the denominator of eligible parents within each group. They are not percentages of children and do not show that a parent's discussion changed a child's behaviour. Multiple discussion topics were allowed.
How visible was sports and race betting advertising?
Advertising exposure supplies historical context for the sports-betting environment. AIFS's July 2022 panel combined sports and race betting advertisements. It does not establish exposure levels today or isolate sports-only promotions.
Which media produced frequent recalled exposure?
- Any media, at least four times weekly: 41%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Television, at least four times weekly: 32%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Online platforms, at least four times weekly: 11%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Team/player uniforms or merchandise, at least four times weekly: 10%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Social media, at least four times weekly: 10%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
Television stood out among the listed channels for frequent recalled exposure. The categories below use a threshold of at least four exposures per week during the recall period. AIFS surveyed an adult online panel in July 2022 and weighted estimates for age and gender. These are survey recollections, not monitoring counts of advertisements. Any-media exposure is a combined measure and overlaps each channel. The combined sports/racing product definition must remain attached when quoting the figures.
How did exposure differ between men and women?
- Weekly-or-more sports/race betting advertising exposure in the July 2022 AIFS panel: women, any media, 73%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Weekly-or-more sports/race betting advertising exposure in the July 2022 AIFS panel: men, any media, 83%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Weekly-or-more sports/race betting advertising exposure in the July 2022 AIFS panel: women, interactive/online media, 41%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Weekly-or-more sports/race betting advertising exposure in the July 2022 AIFS panel: men, interactive/online media, 60%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
Men reported more frequent exposure than women in the displayed comparisons. Here the threshold is at least weekly, which differs from the more frequent threshold above. The interactive category includes online and direct digital channels as defined by the researchers. These differences do not establish targeting practices or prove that advertisements caused betting. Respondents outside the displayed male/female categories were excluded from this particular comparison because their samples were small. Age and gender weights improve alignment but do not turn an online panel into a census.
What responses did exposed sports and race bettors report?
Self-reported influence is different from a measured causal effect. The historical AIFS results below concern people who both bet on sports or racing and recalled advertising exposure; they cannot be applied to all Australian adults.
What changes did bettors associate with advertising?
- Among exposed sports/race bettors in AIFS's July 2022 panel, 21% associated advertising with starting to bet for the first time. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Among exposed sports/race bettors in AIFS's July 2022 panel, 28% associated advertising with changing what they bet on or trying another betting form. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Among exposed sports/race bettors in AIFS's July 2022 panel, 29% associated advertising with placing bets on impulse. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Among exposed sports/race bettors in AIFS's July 2022 panel, 34% associated advertising with increasing their betting. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
Exposed sports and race bettors recalled several types of response. The base includes participants who had bet and recalled advertisements during the previous year, so these percentages are conditional on both experiences. Respondents could report more than one response. They are not controlled estimates of incremental customers or extra spending caused by marketing. The study's wording captures participants' own attribution; selection into betting and advertising exposure can also influence the observed relationship. The results remain a historical July 2022 benchmark.
How did reported responses vary by age and gender?
- Men aged 18–34, increasing their betting: 48%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Women aged 18–34, increasing their betting: 49%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Men aged 55+, increasing their betting: 16%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Women aged 55+, increasing their betting: 4%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
- Women aged 18–34, first-time betting: 28%. (AIFS, Mar 2023)
Younger and older groups reported different patterns of advertising-linked behaviour. These are comparisons within exposed sports/race bettors, not within every person of the same age and gender. Subgroup samples are smaller than the full survey and therefore warrant caution. Increased betting can refer to respondents' own interpretation and does not quantify additional money lost. The selected first-time response is a different outcome from increasing betting and should not be added to it. All observations retain the combined sports/racing definition.
Glossary
Methodology and sources
Every figure on this page comes from the organisation that produced it: regulators, statistics offices, public bodies, research institutes, and companies reporting their own data or surveys. Each one links to the original report or dataset and carries its release date. Survey results keep their population and fieldwork period, and financial figures keep the measure the producer used. Figures from different producers are not added together or ranked against each other. The page is reviewed monthly and updated when a producer releases newer data.