The Online Gambling Industry in Australia – Revenue & Market Forecast (2025)

Australia’s online gambling market is a complex system that includes a wide variety of gaming options. We will discuss the legality in detail later on. For now, we can only say that the online gambling industry includes sports betting on rugby, basketball, football, and horse racing, among other sports.

You can also find online casino games, including blackjack, roulette, and, of course, online poker, among other options. You can also participate in online lotteries via the national lottery by buying tickets online.

Internet-based casino gaming and sports betting in Australia comprise a major part of Australia’s gambling industry. According to a BBC News story, about 38% of Australian adults gamble every week.

One study found that around 90% of Australian adults and about 75% of Australian children see gambling as a normal part of their culture. The study was published on the website of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2016.

A different study published by the NIH targeting 59 families in the Australian state of Victoria concluded that using marketing strategies, such as athletes in promoting gaming, played an important role in driving online gambling among adolescents.

Accessibility – A Key Factor Driving Online Gaming

When the COVID pandemic struck, most land-based betting shops and casinos in Australia were forced to cease operations temporarily. But not Aussie online casinos and betting sites.

In fact, we discovered that the simplicity of accessing betting sites and online casinos and the development of high-speed internet technologies played a major role in popularising online gambling. This was confirmed by data shared by the IMARC Group.

A research analysis published on Statista highlighted that the growing popularity of online gambling is driven by changing preferences, such as easier access, a wide variety of games, and the flexible nature of gambling sites for Aussies.

Recent statistics about gambling revenue illustrate just how popular (online) gambling is in Australia.

According to Statista, the overall gambling market in Australia is projected to reach over A$9bn (US$5.99), and nearly A$10bn by 2030 (US$6.45), with an annual growth rate of 1.48%. Data from Statista also indicates that the global online gambling market will exceed US$520bn by 2030.

According to the IMARC Group data, the market was projected to reach a value of around US$8.5 billion by 2032.

When it comes to online sports betting, Australia’s internet betting industry is equally popular and marks constant growth, according to Statista. In 2024, the popular statistics website released figures indicating that online sports betting in Australia would reach just over US$4.54 billion by the end of the year.

The numbers also look promising for 2025. According to iGaming Today, online gambling is projected to see a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.88%, which will lead to approximately US $8.9 billion by 2033.

Online Gambling in Australia and Oceania

On a broader scale, the online gambling market in Australia and Oceania shows slightly different numbers.

An interesting area of research when it comes to the online gambling industry in Australia is user participation.

It is estimated that the number of people in Australia who take part in online gambling activities will reach around 5 million by 2029. One metric that caught my eye was the average revenue per user (ARPU), which, in 2024, is expected to come to  US$1.22K per user.

The 2022 research by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), which we shared earlier, includes a few secondary statistics about user participation, specifically, young) adults. For instance, the AIHW reports that 73% of Australian adults (18 or older) have spent money on gambling over the past 12 months in 2022.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies further points out that about 38% of Australians gambled on a weekly basis.

Most Popular Forms of Online Gambling in Australia

Interestingly, the most popular gaming products among Australians were scratch cards and lotteries, with 64% user participation. Next came betting on horse racing, greyhounds, and harness racing, with 38% participation, followed by sports betting, with user participation of 34%. Online video poker/online pokies (slot machines) came in last, with 33% participation, according to figures released by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS).

The data shows that 70% of participants played at least two types of gambling products. However, of those who participated in the research, 23% said they’d used 6 or more (unspecified) gambling products.

More recent data, shared by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, shows gambling participation among Australian adults at land-based venues and online in 2024.

The data the ANU collected covers all major forms of gaming, including pokies, racing betting, sports betting, lottery, and table games, among other forms. Here are the results.

The latest research we found confirmed some of these findings. A report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation released in late September 2025 found people gambled most on lotteries, followed by scratch cards, racing, poker machines, and various forms of sports betting.

Australians and Pokies

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s 2022 research found online pokies to be the least-played gaming product among Australian adults.

But other data sets show that pokies remain the most popular form of gambling. For instance, an article by The Guardian, citing official data from the New South Wales government, notes there are around 90,000 pokie machines in NSW, with only the US state of Nevada having more (120,000).

Additionally, the iGB article, drawing on data from the Queensland treasury, points out that Australians had spent $191.2 billion on ‘gaming machines’ for the 2022-23 fiscal year, making them the top gaming product among Aussies by far. This marks a 20.9% year-on-year increase.

Online Gambling in Australia in 2022/23 in Numbers

Australia’s digital gaming industry has marked meteoric growth over the past few years. I dug up a few interesting statistics from the popular gaming magazine iGB for the 2022-23 financial year to illustrate this growth.

Citing data from the Queensland Treasury, iGB notes that the total online gambling turnover for the 2022/23 financial year had risen by almost 166%. According to the Treasury’s data, Australians wagered AU$244.3 billion across all channels.

That fiscal year, the online gambling turnover made up 31% of Australia’s total turnover from gambling, per iGB. The amount of money Australians spent individually was estimated at just over $397 per user.

The above data does not cover online sports wagering, racing, and online lotteries. From 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023, the online gambling industry saw an increase of 18.2% across all verticals, resulting in $1,555 spent on gambling per capita across all territories in Australia, marking an 11.5% rise.

One interesting area of research when it comes to Australia’s online gambling industry is the post-pandemic period.

The Australian National University’s (ANU) Centre for Gambling Research conducted a study, collecting data from April 2019 to January 2024, covering both the period before and after the pandemic.

Dr. Aino Suomi, who heads the ANU’s gambling research centre, said internet gambling among Australian adults had risen from 50% during the pandemic to 60% after. Prior to the pandemic, online gambling participation in Australia stood at 65.6%, but in the 12 months after the survey, it had decreased slightly from 61.3% to 60.3%, The Guardian reports, citing ANU’s research.

Another noteworthy point in the ANU research is that the number of Aussies who gambled online “with risk” went up over 2 points, from 11.6% in 2023 to 13.7% in 2024.

The ANU paper points out that in 2024, the most popular forms of gambling among adults were lottery at 48.6%, raffles at 23.4%, scratch cards at 15.7%, pokies at 12.9%, and racing betting at 10%. Further, the paper notes that 33.4% of Aussie adults gambled online in 2024.

Sociodemographic Statistics About Online Gambling in Australia

When it comes to age groups, the ANU data reveals that men (aged 35-55) gamble more online, while women (aged 65 and older) gamble more in land venues.

As far as age is concerned, Australians aged 45-55 gambled most online (20.5%), and those 75 or older gambled least online (3.7%). In terms of education, those with post-school diplomas gambled online the most (47.2%), followed by Australians who have a bachelor’s degree or higher (28.5%). Regarding employment, ANU’s data shows 48.3% of full-time employees participate in online gambling, the highest of all employment demographics.

Finally, in the Household Type category, 44.2% of couples with children gamble online – the most of all household categories – followed by couples without children (29.6%).

What is interesting is the percentage of gamblers based on household income. As per ANU’s research, those with household incomes from $52,885 to $109,304 gambled the most, making up 36.7%. They are followed by those with incomes from $0 to $52,884, making up 26.6% of online gamblers.

Aussies aged 18 to 34 are more drawn to eSports and online sports betting, while older people are more likely to play video poker, lotteries, and other traditional games.

When it comes to gender, males are more into sports betting and table games, while women like bingo, lottery, and electronic gaming machines.

New data indicate a rise in problem gambling, particularly among young Australian adults, largely due to the easier accessibility of online gambling sites in Australia.

Around 2.9% of Australian Adults face problem gambling, with that number rising to 3.4% when combined with individuals facing moderate or low risk. This marks an uptick in problem gambling from 2.4% in 2023-24 to 2.9% in 2024-25, according to the latest report released by the market research company Roy Morgan in October 2025.

Additional data we reviewed from the report shows that people aged 18-34 are at the highest risk of developing gambling problems. An average of 4.75% of people in this age group are considered ‘problem gamblers,’ with people aged 25 to 34 being the most affected.

Only 1.4% of Australians aged 50 or over face problems related to gambling.

Overall, about 3 million people in Australia participate in some form of harmful gambling. Recent numbers released by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on 24 September 2025 show that 65% of the 3,881 adults who took part in the survey had gambled at least once over the past 12 months.

According to IMARC Group, over 35,600 Australians had registered for self-exclusion from licensed online gambling providers in Australia by the end of the second quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

While Australians spend hundreds of millions of AUD on online gambling every year, it is hard to believe that online gambling, in most forms, is not regulated in the country.

In 2001, the Australian Parliament approved the Interactive Gambling Act – the main piece of legislation that regulates online gambling. ‘Regulates’ is perhaps the wrong word, considering the Act prohibits online gaming operators from offering all forms of online, i.e. interactive gambling, including poker, roulette, blackjack, in-play sports betting, and online pokies.

The IGA has undergone several amendments, specifically in 2017 and 2019, further restricting both offshore and domestic sites that offer or advertise online gambling services.

Under current Australian law, the only legal online sports betting and gaming platforms are those legalised by the government.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which was founded in 2005, oversees online gambling and offers advice and educational material about the rules of online gambling. It also provides ways for players to recognise illegal operators and self-exclusion options.

As part of the program to regulate and keep online gambling in check, the Australian government introduced the national self-exclusion system BetStop. It allows you to self-exclude from licensed gaming operators in Australia for a period of 3 months or permanently.

Additional research by IMARC Group showed the government has been facing regulatory issues. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigated just over 300 complaints and identified 16 instances where gambling companies had violated the Interactive Gaming Act. As a result, 75 gambling websites were recommended for blocking.

State-by-State Regulators

Similar to the US, in Australia, each state has a state-regulated authority that oversees legal (online) gambling.

• Northern Territory – Northern Territory Racing Commission
• New South Wales – Liquor & Gaming NSW
• Victoria – Victorian Casino & Gambling Control Commission
• Australian Capital Territory (ACT) – ACT Gambling and Racing Commission
• Western Australia – Gaming and Wagering Commission
• Queensland – Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation
• South Australia – Liquor, Gambling & Lotteries SA
• Tasmania – Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission

The Northern Territory is unarguably the most easy-going of all territories when it comes to online wagering.

Different research efforts, polls, and studies indicate that the online gambling industry in Australia is growing at a rapid pace. A reminder that the market is expected to reach an annual growth rate of 5.88% between 2025 and 2033, according to research published by IMARC Group.

The report shows that the online gambling market value in Australia was estimated at US $5.2 billion in 2024, with projections to reach US $8.9 billion by 2033.

However, the government has taken steps to control and mitigate the harmful effects through the national self-exclusion program BetStop, alongside other available resources and measures to promote legal and safe gambling.

By the end of 2024, there were just over 26,000 people on BetStop’s National Self-Exclusion Register.