Jump in Australian online gambling during COVID-19 shutdown

The Northern Star, 17 April 2020:

The new isolation measures bought on by the coronavirus pandemic are being linked to an increase in online gambling. 

There was a 67 per cent increase in online gambling from a survey of 250,000 Australian consumers, according to a recent study by Australian credit bureau Illion in collaboration with analytics firm Alphabeta. 

Professor Matthew Rockloff, Head of Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory at CQU, said the increased spare time could be a trigger for gamblers or introduce new people to the habit. 

“People may try online gambling as a way to gamble because they can’t gamble in-venue anymore … they might try overseas sites, which puts them at increased risk because most of the time these sites don’t have consumer protection measures.....