Australia’s online gambling turnover soars 166% in 2022-23, says Queensland treasury

Online gambling turnover in Australia skyrocketed in 2022-23 as the country’s total amount wagered across all verticals and channels hit AU$244.3bn (£124.9bn/€148.0bn/US$164.3bn).

Online gambling turnover increased 165.7% year-on-year to $75.4m, accounting for 31% of the country’s total gambling turnover. Online turnover per capita was $397.5.

Published by the Queensland treasury, the data is split by territories. The online data falls under the Northern Territory as that is where the majority of online operators are licensed.

The data excludes racing and sports betting, keno and lotteries via the internet.

Growth across almost all channels and verticals was reported in the 12 months to 30 June 2023. The total amount wagered across all verticals increased 18.2% during the period. Gambling spend per capita across all states was 11.5% higher year-on-year at $1,555.

Gaming machines remain by far the most popular with Australian players, drawing $191.2bn in turnover, up 20.9% year-on-year. Turnover is classed in the report as total handle across each vertical.

However land-based casino saw the biggest increase in activity with a 22.6% uptick to $20.0bn. Elsewhere, keno turnover was up 18.7% to $1.8bn and “minor gaming” turnover – raffles, lucky envelopes fundraising events – was up 19.9% to $141.9m.

The only area of the market to witness a decline was lotteries, where turnover slipped 1.1% to $7.6m.

Gross gambling profit up to $32.0bn in Australia
In terms of how much operators made, this is shown as “gambling expenditure”. The report classes this as gross profit.

For the 2022-23 financial year, this amounted to $32.0bn, a rise of 13.8%. Gaming machines generated the most profit, with the $15.8bn being 22.8% more than the previous year.

Online gaming profit climbed the highest at 146.3% to $44.4m, while casino was up 27.6% to $3.6bn, keno 14.7% to $473.2m and minor gaming 19.9% to $61.0m,

The drop in lotteries spending meant gross profit in this area fell 1.1% to $3.1bn for the year.

New South Wales remains Australia’s gambling hub
Geographically, New South Wales is still the main hub for gambling in Australia. For 2022-23, turnover in the region topped $114.6bn, up 17.1% from the previous year.

Turnover in Queensland reached $56.5bn, Victoria $44.1bn and South Australia $11.7bn. A further $10.0bn came from Western Australia, $3.6bn the New Territory, $3.5bn Australian Capital Territory, and $351.8m Tasmania. 

In terms of gross profit, New South Wales accounted for $12.9bn of the total. Other stand-out states included Victoria on $7.4bn and Queensland with $6.1bn.

Is higher spending a cause for concern?
Publication of the new report prompted a reaction from the Australia Alliance for Gambling Reform. 

CEO Martin Thomas said that the higher player spend is “alarming”, putting it down to a “grossly inadequate regulatory regime”.

“These latest horrifying loss figures underscore the importance of the federal government adopting all 31 recommendations of the Murphy Report including a full ban on gambling advertising on broadcast media and online,” Thomas said. “It also proves the need for a national strategy on gambling and the formation of a national regulator.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues to distance himself from reports of an outright ban on gambling advertising and he maintains talks to put new measures in place are ongoing.