The ACT has the highest gambling expenditure per head of all states and territories in Australia. The ACT gambling expenditure (net of prizes) is around $740 per person, according to a report on gambling in Australia and New Zealand in the March issue of International Wagering and Business. This is almost double the national average (close to $400).
However, the main social concern about gambling is not so much the absolute amount being spent, but its proportion of disposable income. The higher that is, the more likely the impact on spending on more important things, like family food, shelter and clothing. ACT residents have a higher income than the Australian average, more are in work and there is a lower proportion in retirement. It means the higher gambling expenditure is likely to have less affect on other things. People in the ACT are spending about 13 per cent of their disposable income on gambling, which is about the same a most other states and territories.
However, here is cause for alarm about the level of poker-machine gambling in the ACT. Canberrans put more that a billion dollars through the pokies last year (about $3400 a head). Most of it, of course, came back. But the pokies form a high part of ACT gambling revenue, as in NSW, and consequently both places have high overall gambling spending. It is the area for government to watch and a lesson for other states.