A new Australian market survey pokes further holes in the local media’s hyperbolic claims that sports betting is the nation’s leading societal scourge.

Thursday saw the release of Gambling Activity in Australia, a report by the Australian Gambling Research Centre (AGRC) that draws its data from the 2015 Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia survey.

Among the headline findings of the report are that an estimated 39% of Australians (6.8m) engage in at least one form of gambling every month, earning the title ‘regular’ gamblers. Combined, these regular gamblers spent around A$8.6b (US $5.2b) per month on their gambling entertainment.

In terms of gambling participation, lotteries claimed the highest score at 76.2%, followed by instant scratch tickets (22%), electronic gaming machines (EGM) which include the ‘pokies’ video poker machines (20.8%) and race betting (14.3%). No other gambling products reached double-digit participation, with sports betting well down the list at 8.4%, just ahead of keno (8.1%).