Young men are treating gambling losses as the cost of maintaining friendships and betting is being normalised in the school yard, according to new research.
A new paper from The Kids Research Institute Australia investigated the experiences of young men with online sport gambling and the perspectives of parents.
Senior Research Fellow Dr Vincent Mancini said his team’s findings flew in the face of the common argument that young people fall into gambling problems due to a lack of financial literacy.
“Some young men said they were already aware they would likely never see this money back and instead treated it as the cost they were willing to pay to maintain and build social relationships,” Dr Mancini said.
This suggests it has less to do with financial literacy and more to do with fitting in – or not having other ways to promote social ties.
Responses to the marketing tactics employed by gambling companies ranged from frustration at the saturation of gambling advertising during live sports, to the appeal of seeing promotions including enhanced odds and bonus bets.
The federal government is this week introducing its gambling advertising reforms to parliament, three years after a phased ban on gambling advertising was recommended in a landmark parliamentary report.
The proposed reforms would limit the amount of gambling advertising between 6am-8:30pm to three ads per station, per channel, and ban online ads for underage users.
“My concern is that targeting this type of advertising alone will conceal many other ways that companies are already convincing people to gamble,” Dr Mancini said.
“This includes creating a culture where it is expected of young people, and preying on their desire to fit in with their friends. It’s also not clear how legislation around advertising will deal with things like product placement, social media influencers, and the sponsorship of podcasts and other non-gambling focused media by gambling companies.”
In the study, of which Dr Thom Nevill was first author, parents noted their concerns about the addictive nature of sports betting, made easier with the use of smartphones and apps.
They also noted that their sons’ social interactions – both online and offline – regularly involved talking about bets and odds. Some noted instances of underage betting, while others said the exposure to discussions of sports betting motivated them to download betting apps as soon as they turned 18.
“This signals the prevalence of underage gambling across Australia, and indeed here in WA. Identifying how and why young people are introduced to gambling before they are legally allowed to do so is going to be crucial next step in this program of work,” Dr Mancini said.
This research received funding from Embrace at The Kids Research Institute Australia. Embrace is supported by principal partner Rio Tinto and Channel 7 Telethon Trust.
Read the full paper in the International Gambling Studies journal here.
First published Wednesday 1 July 2026.
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