Source : ABC NEWS
Warning: This story contains discussion of addiction
Dylan* was 15 years old when he gambled and lost his birthday money on an online game.
The app — which he had downloaded onto a school iPad, the type reserved for online learning in the classroom — was a puzzle game that relied on chance instead of logic and used crypto as betting currency.
“I lost the whole $100 and I remember I was pretty devastated,” says the now 24-year-old from Victoria.
Despite that loss, he found himself turning to the app in class or in his bedroom at home, spending the money he was earning from a part-time job at a fast-food outlet.
“I was only doing about $100 per week. And then I discovered a website where you can play dice.“
Big wins and even bigger losses followed, and after a very lucky streak, Dylan’s bets were beginning to blow out.
“I remember there was a point where I did a $32,000 bet and I was like, ‘I’ve got to stop.’
“But I couldn’t resist the urge to press the button … what if this one was the one that made it all back?”
Dylan says it’s easy for anyone to open a gambling account, including those who are underage.
“You would be surprised.”
‘I confiscated the phone and it had a gambling app’
It’s illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to gamble in Australia, yet one in three 12 to 17 year olds gamble, according to a 2025 discussion paper by the Australia Institute that looked at data gathered by the Department of Social Services, as well as a number of studies.
That’s about 600,000 teenagers. That figure increases to 902,000 once you add 18 to 19 year olds.
Secondary-school teacher David* often overhears his Year 11 and 12 students discussing their gambling in class.
“You hear conversation around the common room and in the halls about multis, especially same-game multibets for football,” he says.
Teacher David will often hear his students discuss their gambling. (Pexels: Cottonbro Studio/CC BY-ND 4.0)
“I’m also an outdoor-ed teacher so when we go on camps I know the kids are watching sport and I’ve seen evidence of them putting bets on their phones.
“They’re not meant to have their phones on camps but when they go to their tents we can’t monitor them.”
David says he has even caught a student placing a bet during class.
“I confiscated the phone and it had a gambling app on it and she was tracking an NBA game live at 11am on a Thursday.“
After becoming concerned by reports of gambling among students, secondary school teachers Matthew Sekfy and Haydn Flanagan started Gambling Education Australia to provide gambling harm education to secondary schools and sporting clubs.
Mr Sekfy says it has become common to hear about students gambling in classrooms.
“They can get around security protocols so they can gamble at school on their laptops instead of doing their work,” Mr Sekfy says.
“I had a young person in Year 10 come up and show me that he’d won $500.
“It begs the question, how are they getting on to [gambling] websites and apps on their phone and on their laptops as a younger person who is underage?”
Underage gamblers are more likely to continue gambling until their mid-20s. (Pexels: Kaboompics.com/CC BY-ND 4.0)
‘Drinking, gambling and footy’
Playing footy and gambling were inextricably linked for 19-year-old Liam* from Melbourne.
“I went to an all-boys school, and the culture was drinking, gambling and footy,” he says.
Using his older cousin’s gambling account, Liam placed his first bet when he was 16 or 17 years old.
Many of his mates did the same, opening accounts using the names of older relatives, including older siblings and even parents.
“Me and my mates put on a fun bet. We didn’t win but while watching the game, we had adrenaline rushing through our body,” he says of their first bet.
“That started a pattern of gambling with friends — like a social thing — throughout Year 11 and Year 12.
“It started off with very little money and creating bigger multis in class during study period with higher odds and low stakes. It was a fun thing we all used to do.”
The gambling increased in Year 12 when Liam’s friends, who he calls the “footy boys”, began turning 18 and were able to open their own betting accounts.
“Throughout the weekends of Year 12, you finish your footy game and then go out to a pub at night and then try and put some money on the horses so you can pay for an extra drink or just maybe do it to socially fit in,” Liam says.
“It’s addictive when you start winning money.”
Liam found it difficult to resist the inducements that had begun to arrive via the gambling apps on his phone and his social media feed.
“You definitely come across it on social media and I also had notifications on, so I would receive messages via the gambling apps,” he says.
Once Liam finished high school and began earning money during his gap year, he found himself gambling most days.
“It got to the point where it wasn’t just [gambling] socially, I was doing it by myself in my room,” he says.
It took changing footy clubs and finding a new group of friends who weren’t interested in gambling for him to have a change of heart.
“I got to a point where I was like, ‘OK, this is it. There’s no point in me gambling anymore’,” he says.
“I realised there’s more to life than feeding these addictions …”
The normalisation of sports gambling
Hannah Pitt, a public health researcher from Deakin University, says the marketing of gambling takes many forms.
“Young people themselves say they see gambling advertising everywhere — while walking down the street, on social media while scrolling,” Dr Pitt says.
Dr Hannah Pitt says young people are exposed to many positive messages about gambling. (Supplied)
They are also especially vulnerable to inducements, like bonus bets.
“When I spoke to young people or children in my study of eight to 16 year olds, they would talk about cashback offers and bonus bets and wanting to try gambling because it was basically risk-free in their eyes,” she says.
While the use of celebrities and athletes in gambling endorsements has been the recent target of government reforms, Dr Pitt argues “influencer marketing” is missing from the equation.
“We know that young people think influencers are actually more influential than celebrities these days,” she says.
“And there’s more of a blurred line on social media around what is a paid ad and what is just the person’s content.”
Then there is normalisation of sports gambling.
“In our research we found that 75 per cent of children aged eight to 16 thought that gambling was a normal or common part of sport,” Dr Pitt says.
And while it’s been commonly perceived that underage gambling is mostly a problem among boys and young men, she points out this isn’t necessarily the case.
“We’re finding that there’s marketing strategies that are quite appealing to young women or young girls as well.”
Girls are also interested in football, exposing them to the same gambling ads, says Dr Pitt.
There’s also been an increase in betting on so called “novelty markets”.
“There’s betting on the outcome of reality TV shows or political markets and we’ve even seen [gambling] on things like Taylor Swift tickets,” she says.
Dr Pitt says children are aware that gambling is risky and that it’s something they probably shouldn’t be doing.
“But any time that they’re being told, ‘It’s just a bit of fun, it’s very normal, it’s accepted’ and here’s this offer that can reduce their perceptions of risk, we think can increase harm for that child.”
‘I’ve been lying to pretty much everyone’
As soon as Dylan turned 18 he went to a pokies venue, something he now says was the “dumbest thing” he’s ever done.
“I played, got hooked and it’s just been non-stop since then.”
Since placing his first bet at 15, Dylan says he’s lost “at least $900,000” on pokies, online and at casinos.
“I think last year I lost about $250,000 when I added it all up. Just pretty shit when you look at it, to be honest,” he says.
Dylan has tried to stop but the opportunity to gamble is “pretty much everywhere”.
“If I’m watching sports, there’s ads everywhere. If I’m on TV, radio … it’s always there. There’s a [pokies] venue every five minutes,” he says.
The impact on his personal life has been enormous.
“I’ve been lying to pretty much everyone … it definitely has a toll on your mental health.”
What are the signs parents should look for
According to Nicola Palfrey, a clinical psychologist from Headspace, from a developmental perspective children are naturally more vulnerable to gambling harm.
“We know all the neuroscience, the prefrontal cortex that puts the brakes on some of our behaviours isn’t [yet] intact,” she says.
Clinical psychologist Nicola Palfrey says its important to regularly check in with your children. (Supplied)
“So developmentally there’s a lack of capacity physically [and] chemically to be able to see through the consequences of your actions.”
Coupled with the normalisation of gambling, this vulnerability can expose them to risky behaviour.
But Ms Palrey says if you suspect your child is gambling and experiencing gambling harm, there are signs to look out for.
“If you’re noticing they are not themselves, that they are more moody, they are isolated, are having moody outbursts more often than is normal for them — check in with them and see what’s going on,” she says.
Young women are also actively targeted by gambling marketing. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne has additional signs including changes in spending habits, a drop in school marks, a sudden interest in professional sports and sporting results, and the use of gambling terms in conversation, such as “line” or “spread”.
“Combine impulsivity with risk-taking behaviour and shame and stigma, and we can get into quite dark places quite quickly with young people if they are in over their head,” Mr Palfrey says.
So, what can parents do if they recognise these signs in their children?
Ms Palfrey suggests asking your child’s “permission to be invited into their world”.
“Often we don’t like the notion that we need to seek permission to be invited into our kids’ world,” she says.
“This doesn’t sit well with parents … but that positioning is much more likely to get you a result.
“And you can start with the positive. Like ‘What do you really like about this game? Or what do you really like about being online with your mates?’
“You seek to understand and connect, to have a conversation and be alongside your child and young person to understand what’s going on for them.”
*Some names have been altered to preserve anonymity.
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