Gambling research

The 2023 gambling prevalence and wellbeing survey in the NT (Stevens, M, Flack, M, and Caudwell, KM, 2024), is the fourth in a time series, with the previous 3 surveys run in 2018, 2015 and 2005.

The information contained in this report will be useful to a range of stakeholders including government, policymakers, gambling harm minimisation service providers, researchers, industry, and the community.

The survey, conducted by Roy Morgan Research Institute using computer assisted telephone interviews between 19 October and 31 December 2023, involved a random sample of 5,000 Territorians.

The survey’s top line findings are:

• Around three-quarters of the NT adult population (73% or 137,095 Territorians) participate in some form of gambling, which was a small but not significant increase since 2018 (72% in 2018).
• The most popular forms of gambling are lotto at 47%, raffles at 36%, electronic gaming machines (EGMs) at 24%, and keno at 22%.
• Younger Territorians tend to favour EGMs, casino table games and sports betting, while lotto, raffles and racetrack betting are more popular among older Territorians.
• In terms of motivation, 14.2% of gamblers (15.6% males; 12.9% females) do so for excitement, followed by money at 11.8% (14.1% males; 9.4% females) and escape at 4.4% (5.2% males; 3.5% females).
• Online gambling increased significantly, from around 9% (16,841 Territorians) in 2018 to 16% (29,435 Territorians) in 2023.
• Population groups featuring the highest percentage of problem and moderate at-risk gamblers include Territorians aged 18 to 29 (15.8%), males (10.1%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (18.8%), those from non-English speaking backgrounds (26%), and those completing education to year 10 and below (15.2%).
• Problem and moderate risk gambler estimates both increased from 2018 to 2023, with problem gamblers up from 2,487 Territorians (1.4% of the population) to 4,456 (2.4%), and moderate risk gamblers up from 6,426 (3.6%) to 7,930 (4.2%).

Read the full 2023 gambling prevalence and wellbeing survey in the Northern Territory report PDF (5.0 MB).

Contact

For further information about this report:

Licensing NT
Department of Tourism and Hospitality
Phone: 08 8999 1800 or 08 8935 7447
cbf.ntg@nt.gov.au