An Australian study has found the more people spend on gambling the higher the general crime rate.
Lead author Professor Donald Weatherburn, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, said there was no previous evidence that looked at the relationship between total expenditure on gambling and total crime.
“But this study is the first to create this macro view,” Professor Weatherburn said.
“What most previous studies have done is interview individual gamblers and ask them whether they’ve committed crime to raise money to gamble.
“Our study is the first to quantify the link between gambling expenditure and crime.”
He said the New South Wales-based study found that each 10 percent increase in gambling expenditure resulted in more than:
- 4500 additional assaults.
- 2800 additional home break-ins.
- 1300 additional break and enter (non-dwelling) offences.
- 1400 additional motor vehicle thefts.
- 2300 additional stealing from motor vehicle thefts.
- 3800 additional fraud offences each year.
“Gambling hurts not only the people who gamble, but the community as a whole suffers from Australia’s love affair with gambling,” Professor Weatherburn said.
He said the results provided new insights into the harms associated with gambling.
“When people are spending more on gambling, those in the community who don’t gamble are experiencing crimes that they otherwise might not experience,” he said.
He said researchers had known for a long time that problem gamblers caused problems to themselves and their families.
“What we didn’t know is the big picture – how much extra anti-social behaviour does an increase in gambling expenditure cause across a whole community and this study provides that answer.”
