Essential Report
Betting activity and horse racing
Q. Which of the following best describes your regular betting activity?
Total | Age | Gender | |||||
18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Male | Female | |||
I regularly bet on horse races and will place a bet on the Melbourne Cup | 16% | 18% | 20% | 10% | 25% | 8% | |
I rarely bet on horse races but will watch the Melbourne Cup and place a bet | 26% | 28% | 26% | 23% | 25% | 26% | |
I will watch the Melbourne Cup but will not place a bet | 26% | 17% | 26% | 35% | 25% | 28% | |
I have never been interested in the Melbourne Cup and will not place a bet | 32% | 36% | 28% | 32% | 26% | 38% | |
Base (n) | 1,063 | 319 | 371 | 373 | 530 | 533 |
- Around a third of people are not interested in the Melbourne Cup and will not place a bet on Tuesday (32%). A quarter (26%) will place a bet on the race, despite rarely betting and the same number will watch the race without betting (26%). The remaining 16% say they regularly bet on horse races and will place a bet on the Melbourne Cup.
- Men are more likely than women to bet regularly on horse racing (25% to 8%).
- Despite having less interest in horse racing than other age groups, people aged over 55 are just as likely to watch the Melbourne Cup or place a bet on the race (68%).
Regulation of Gambling
Q. For each of the following forms of gambling, which do you think need more or less regulation?
Needs more regulation | Needs less regulation | Current regulation is about right | Don’t know | |
Online gambling in general | 68% | 4% | 16% | 12% |
Poker machines | 62% | 5% | 24% | 9% |
Casinos | 53% | 4% | 32% | 11% |
Betting on sport e.g. football, cricket | 46% | 4% | 36% | 14% |
Betting on horse racing | 37% | 4% | 47% | 13% |
Lotto | 20% | 4% | 65% | 11% |
About two thirds of respondents think there should be more regulation of online gambling (68%) and poker machines (62%). 53% think that casinos need more regulation.
Differences by voting intention were –
- Liberal/National voters were less likely to favour more regulation of casinos (47%) and poker machines (55%)
- More regulation of poker machines was more strongly favoured by Greens (74%) and Labor (65%) voters.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
Sign up for updates
Receive the Essential Report in your inbox.Essential Tags
2PP
Abbott
ALP
Anthony Albanese
Approval of opposition leader
Approval of Tony Abbott
asylum seekers
Australian economy
Bill Shorten
Carbon Tax
climate change
coronavirus
covid-19
economy
Education
Election
EMC
environment
ER
Essential Media
Essential Report
Federal Budget
Federal Government
federal politics
Gillard
Greens
Julia Gillard
kevin rudd
Labor
Labor Party
Liberal
Liberal Party
Liberals
mining
Nationals
Opposition leader
peter lewis
Polling
polls
Prime Minister
Scott Morrison
tony abbott
two party preferred
voting
Voting intention
Recent Comments
