Growing number of teens struggling with problem gambling

A recent report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has revealed a rising rate of teenagers struggling with online gambling addiction.

According to Gamblers Anonymous, along with the rise in numbers there is a probability of a spike in suicide rates as these youngsters struggle alone with mobile phone betting.

Gamblers Anonymous said the demographics of their members are now changing from adults to young men, especially teenagers, with the increase partly put down to the growing use of betting apps because of pandemic restrictions.

Katie, a GA facilitator from Victoria for the past 20 years, expressed her surprise at the alarming change in demographics.

“There’s been a huge change in numbers and also what people are gambling on. During the COVID pandemic, the online stuff really blew up,” she said.

“The impact that’s going to have in the future — God help them.”

Another facilitator from Darwin, who chose to be anonymous, spoke to the ABC about his ordeal with gambling. He explained young Australians are pushed to suicide because they cannot inform their family about their gambling addiction. For Chris, spending his money on betting apps was a way of relieving stress until he started stealing from friends and family while racking up debt, to fund his addiction.

According to the report, the Parliament of Australia has launched an inquiry into the gambling industry to determine how well they are protecting the public from harm.

Health professionals are proud of the existing work done in the gambling space to minimise harm, but consider gambling addiction a a public health issue believe more should be done.

John Crozier, a trauma surgeon, has decided to form a coalition of doctors demanding reform.

“I think Australia is at a critical tipping point,” Dr. Crozier said.

“Online gambling is particularly rapacious, with algorithms that are able to target the most vulnerable — those who gamble the most and lose the most.

“We have to stop the grooming of our children with this overwhelming amount of advertising, and we have to step the industry away from profiting while the public purse picks up the pieces.”

The situation looks even more troublesome in light of several recent studies in Australia looking at the involvement of children in gambling and the link to suicide.

Earlier this month, the Alliance for Gambling Reform published research that shows 430,000 Australian children are likely to become gamblers, with gambling ads exacerbating the situation.

It gets even worse as data from Suicide Prevention Australia show that close to 400 Australians commit suicide due to problem gambling.

There continues to be calls for reform of the Australian gambling industry, starting with the implementation of new taglines in gambling ads to stricter regulation of online gambling, down to an outright ban of gambling ads on television.

Currently Australia does not have any regulation surrounding online casinos and poker, with the unregulated industry understood to send millions of dollars to offshore gambling sites yearly.

Some of the most popular betting companies in Australia include Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and Neds.