State governments banked more than $1.1 billion in direct revenue from the wagering industry in 2023/24, the latest edition of Australian Gambling Statistics has revealed.
The annual gambling activity report, compiled by the Queensland Government Statistician's Office on behalf of the state’s treasury, released its 40th gambling findings earlier this month, with Australia’s overall gambling expenditure reaching over $32 billion, the highest in the review’s history.
Wagering, essentially betting on racing and sport, made up $8.4 billion in expenditure, and the Point Of Consumption Tax (POCT) levied by state and territory governments continued to prove a windfall.
Before the POCT was broadly introduced in 2017, state government revenue from wagering amounted to just $215 million, but has since grown five-fold to reach $1.13 billion in the space of seven years.
According to the report, the NSW government received the largest contribution from wagering, with $343 million, ahead of Queensland ($299.5 million) and Victoria ($246.5 million).
The total contribution to government was actually a slight reduction from what it was in 2022/23, attributable to total wagering turnover dropping to $22.3 billion, a decline of $1.3 billion.
Overall gambling revenue to governments, adding in aspects like casinos, gaming machines and lotteries, was at a record high of $9.4 billion. Gaming machines, excluding those in casinos, account for $5.4 billion of that contribution. That is another record figure.
Overall turnover on gaming machines surpassed $200 billion for the first time, while expenditure on the pokies outside of casinos jumped to $16.3 billion.
NSW gamblers spent a record $13.3 billion in total across 2023/24. That saw them break through the $2000 per person per year mark for the first time.
According to the data, the average Australian spent $1521 on gambling during 2023/24. However, the report does acknowledge that the Victorian expenditure data is incomplete.
The data doesn’t include what is spent on unregulated avenues such as online casinos and sportsbooks.
