In 2024-25 players in Australia lost A$17,444 million on gaming machines in clubs and hotels, about A$807.7 for every adult, by the official count the Queensland Government Statistician's Office publishes for all states and territories. New South Wales accounts for A$9,059.1 million of it. The same publication records nothing under interactive gaming, because online casino services to Australian residents are banned under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001: there is no official figure for offshore online pokies at all. Below are the state table, what the figures mean in the publication's own words, and the counts we made over our own files.
What the source itself publishes
These figures relate to the net amount lost or the amount wagered less the amount won.
The numbers shown represent how much money players have lost overall, after subtracting any winnings from the total amount they bet. This gives you an idea of the actual losses experienced by players as a group. The figures do not include amounts that were won back.
Turnover is the amount of money bet, regardless of whether that bet is won or lost. Turnover does not represent player losses.
Turnover is the total amount of money players bet, without considering wins or losses. This means the figure does not show how much players lose. It simply records the sum wagered during play.
All jurisdictions, except Western Australia, have a statewide gaming (poker) machine network operating in clubs and hotels.
If you play in any state or territory except Western Australia, you will find poker machines available in clubs and hotels across the whole state. In Western Australia, this statewide network of poker machines in clubs and hotels does not operate. This affects where and how you can access these machines depending on your location.
Interactive gambling services provided to Australian residents by an internet casino are banned under the Commonwealth Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) which came into effect in August 2001.
Internet casinos are not allowed to provide interactive gambling services to people living in Australia under the Commonwealth Interactive Gambling Act 2001. This law has applied since August 2001.
Mean estimates of the population aged over 18 years are presented in Table 2, below.
This means that Table 2 shows average estimates for how many people aged over 18 years are included. When you read the statistics, they are based on these estimated adult population numbers. The figures in the table relate only to people over 18 years old.
Australian Gambling Statistics, 41st edition, 1999-00 to 2024-25 (Queensland Government Statistician's Office), https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/statistics/theme/society/gambling/australian-gambling-statistics (explanatory notes PDF), read 4 October 2026.
Gaming machine losses by state, 2024-25
Losses here are the publication's "expenditure": the amount bet less the amount won. The per adult figure divides that by the population aged 18 and over.
| State or territory | Lost on gaming machines, 2024-25 (A$ million) | Per adult (A$) | Change on 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 9,059.1 | 1,344.4 | +7.5% |
| Victoria | 3,145.1 | 567.3 | +3.8% |
| Queensland | 3,769.2 | 857.1 | +9.9% |
| South Australia | 1,008.5 | 666.2 | +5.5% |
| Western Australia | none recorded: no club and hotel network | - | - |
| Tasmania | 112.4 | 243.3 | -0.2% |
| Australian Capital Territory | 190.6 | 499.0 | +2.1% |
| Northern Territory | 159.1 | 797.6 | +4.5% |
| Australia | 17,444.0 | 807.7 | +7.1% |
Australian Gambling Statistics, 41st edition, summary tables D, E and F, Queensland Government Statistician's Office, released 11 August 2026, read 4 October 2026.
What we counted in our own files
Each row is our own count over files we pulled and keep, not a figure taken from anyone else:
| What is counted | Number | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Sites whose own documents we hold | 10 | operator terms, bonus and payment pages |
| Separate documents pulled | 63 | one file per page and date |
| Clauses extracted from them | 2,354 | sentences long enough to quote |
| Game paths in their sitemaps | 68,821 | 8 sitemaps |
| Game pages opened | 7,569 | their own game pages |
| Game pages printing a return figure | 1,295 | the figure the page itself prints |
| Register rows we read | 3 | the regulator's public register |
| Acts held in full | 14 | the legislation registers |
| Sections in those Acts | 4,134 | as the compilations print them |
What this does not settle
The official figures cover legal, regulated gambling only: losses at offshore online sites are not in them, and no official body publishes a figure for those. The state figures are for clubs and hotels and leave out machines in casinos. The second table is our own count over files we hold and measures the documents, not the market.
Licence status in Australia
None of the sites on this page of counts over our own files names an Australian licence; each is an offshore operator as far as Australian law is concerned. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and the ACMA's powers under it are quoted on our law page. Amounts are quoted as each operator prints them; nothing is converted to A$.
Play safely
18+ only. Gambling Help Online 1800 858 858 - free, confidential, 24 hours a day, Australia. Self-exclusion register: BetStop.