Prevalence of gambling and problem gambling in New South Wales

This report contains the results from the 2011 survey (N=10,000 adults) of the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling in New South Wales (NSW). The research was undertaken by Ogilvy Illumination on behalf of the NSW Government. The survey found that 65% of the NSW population had participated in at least one gambling activity in the last 12 months. The most popular gambling activity was lotteries (41%) followed by instant scratch tickets (28%), gaming machines (27%), horse-greyhound races (24%), Keno (14%), sports betting (8%), table games in a casino (7%) and casino or pokies-style games on the Internet (2%). Problem gambling was measured using the Problem Gambling Severity Index. The survey classified 0.8% of adults as problem gamblers, 2.9% as moderate risk gamblers and 8.4% as low risk gamblers. Problem gamblers were significantly more likely to be male, younger (18-24 years and 35-54 years), be single, be divorced/separated/widowed, unemployed, have low educational attainment and be a regular gambler on gaming machines, on horse or greyhound races and on sports or non-sports events.