Australians are gambling more than they can afford, with harm rates increasing despite the number of people betting overall decreasing.

The number of people gambling has steadily decreased over the past 15 years, but gambling harm and problem betting rates haven't reduced, meaning a larger proportion of people who gamble do so in riskier ways.

Online gambling has more than quadrupled to cover more than 33 per cent of adults since 2017, according to research out of ANU.

Almost one-in-20 adults bet at risky levels in the past year.

People who reported risky and high-frequency gambling were more likely to be experiencing high psychological distress and loneliness.

"These people who experience harms are more likely to be in the lower socio-economic groups, more likely to be unemployed and

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