In August, gamblers in Monash lost an average of $377,000 a day on pokies

Guilt. Stress. Borrowing money. Selling possessions. And going back to try and recoup losses.

This is the fallout from Australia’s addiction to gambling, with new research showing about one in seven Australians have experienced one or more of the above as they grapple with the punt.

The Australian Gambling Research Centre’s (AGRC) research from 2024, which had a nationally representative sample of 3,881 Australian adults, stated an estimated 3.1 million Australian adults — about 15 percent of the population — have experienced harm from gambling. The AGRC is part of the Federal Government’s Australian Institute of Family Studies.

According to the study, about 60 percent of Victorian adults have gambled in one form or another over the past 12 months.

The latest statistics show that across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, the Monash LGA topped the list for losses on pokie machines during August, at $11.7 million. That’s an average of $377,000 lost every day of the month - the eighth highest loss of any LGA in the state. 

In the Knox LGA, people playing poker machines lost $7.5 million in August, and in Maroondah they blew $5.76 million.

Liz Neville, Director at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, said: “Current harm reduction initiatives need to be carefully examined and tested … with ongoing measurement making for more impactful responses over time”.