Football, meat pies, kangaroos and gambling - there's nothing more Australian.

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We're the biggest gamblers in the world, as well as the biggest losers, and it appears as though the major parties have only the weakest of plans to regulate the addictive gambling industry to limit the harm it does to our community.

The $244.3 billion in bets that Australians placed in 2022-23 mean we're the biggest gamblers on Earth. We're also the biggest losers, Australians lost $31.5 billion to gambling in 2022-23.

That's comparable to the size of the entire Northern Territory economy ($33.1 billion), and more than the $21 billion lost to gambling in all of Las Vegas.

Gambling losses are linked to suicide and family violence. Problem gamblers lose their jobs, homes and families to their addiction. Gambling inflicts enormous harm on the Australian community.

If that's not enough cause for concern, Australian children start gambling well before the supposed legal minimum age of 18.

While the Albanese government introduced laws to ban kids under 16 from using social media, it's done little to stop kids from being subject to gambling ads.

Research from the Australia Institute shows that almost one in three (30 per cent) 12-17-year-olds gamble.

This increases to almost half (46 per cent) of 18-19-year-olds, and these habits persist into adulthood.

Like Big Tobacco, the gambling industry knows if it can get kids hooked, it has a pipeline of customers for life. Almost 1 million teenagers (12-19-year-olds) gambled in the past year - this is 33.8 per cent of all teenagers, or enough to fill the MCG nine times over.

Together, Australia's teenagers gamble an estimated $231 million a year.

In fact, if you're a teenager in Australia you are more likely to have gambled in the past year then you are to have played soccer, basketball, cricket or any sport.

If gambling were a sport, it'd be by far the most popular sport........

© The Examiner