Australian teenagers are increasingly encountering gambling in new ways that experts warn encourage damaging habits.

From the two-up games of goldfields, betting on the Melbourne Cup and celebrating with a birthday scratchie, gambling has always played a huge part in Australian culture and children have been exposed to it from a young age, but Gambling Treatment & Research Clinic research fellow Robert Herinene said social media is applying new pressures.

“Teens are being exposed to gambling in new and unusual ways they previously weren’t,” he said.

He warned teens are no longer only encountering gambling through traditional sporting advertisements, but increasingly via some online influencers. “They advertise their winnings,” he said. “The entire focus of their content is gambling.”

A new report found nearly one in three Australian teenagers gamble despite being under the legal playing age.

The study released in April by the Australian Institute’s Matt Saunders and Morgan Harrington highlighted concerning trends in teenage gambling. It found around 600,000 12 to 17-year-olds had gambled in the past year. That’s enough teenagers to fill the MCG nine times over.

And they are losing big. The study revealed the “annual expenditure on gambling among teenagers is an estimated $231 million, or an average of $86.72 per teen per year.”

One teenager, who asked not to be named, started gambling when he was 16 years old. He said he was unaware of the risks when he started: “I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. It started off with small multis on Sports Bet, but got bigger of course and before I knew it I’d lost a lot of money.”

Gamble Aware psychologist Paul Thompson said gambling losses often led to serious mental health issues. “It takes them out of school and relationships,” he said. “They no longer want to go out or have the money to. It can also lead to performance drops at work, leading to job loss.”

He added the downsides of gambling extend beyond teenagers themselves, it impacts their friends and family too: “Often kids will borrow money from friends, and their parents will end up having to pay them back.” He recounted working with a teenager whose parents had to redraw on their mortgage to pay back the debts.

Dr Herinene said education was key to early prevention: “We need to make sure we’re educating people about why they shouldn’t be gambling underage and the dangers of it.

“I think it should be part of the curriculum. Just as it is for drug use, alcohol and smoking.”

If you or someone you know is impacted by gambling, contact Gamble Aware at 1800 858 858.