Queenslanders bet over $56b last year, but less than one per cent of that went to preventing further harm

The Queensland government made $1.9 billion in gambling taxes last year, but only spent 0.6 per cent on harm minimisation programs.

A damning Queensland Audit Office report has taken aim at the state government’s “inadequate” harm reduction strategies.

The report, tabled in state parliament, has revealed Queensland gamblers spent $56.4 billion in the 2022-23 financial year.

That amounts to 12 per cent of all the money spent in Queensland on goods and services that year.

The independent auditor found gambling taxes and levies increased 43 per cent over the past five years, but the amount spent on harm minimisation barely budged.