Hooked on gambling
Go for a walk along the streets of any inner city suburb in Australia and you are in gambler‘s paradise. Enter a pub and you will spot the "pokies" or poker machines tucked away in the back of the place. Australian watering holes are gradually being converted into "leisure centres" which is Australian for "gamblers’ den". Australians now have a staggering A$11 billion (US$6.7bn) a year gambling habit. Of the 82% of the adult population, nearly 300,000 people are classed as problem gamblers, accounting for A$3.6 billion in losses annually or around A$12,000 (US$7,300) per gambler. The cost to the community of gambling addicts - bankruptcy, productivity, crime, jail - has been estimated by the Australian Productivity Commission as A$5.6 billion on top of what is wagered and lost..
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