The advent and growth of the online casino sector have caught many countries’ legislatures off-guard. New Zealand is no exception. The last time any meaningful laws were passed in relation to gambling was back in 2003. Among the rules that this imposed was a ban on online operators in New Zealand.
However, international borders are hard to enforce online. This has meant that, for a couple of decades now, foreign online casino operators have been able to offer their services to New Zealanders, who have embraced them with enthusiasm, as the figures show. In 2024, it was estimated that the value of the overall gambling market in the country would be NZ$2.15 billion, with online casinos accounting for over half of the total at NZ$1.10 billion.
In light of this, back in May of last year, the country’s Minister for Internal Affairs, Brooke Van Velden, announced plans to introduce a new regulatory system to address this legal vacuum.
The reasons for change
Besides the obvious reasons for the new laws to come into force, namely to address an issue that had been left to lie fallow for so long, Van Velden has stated the motivation on several occasions. The primary reason is to create a safer and more closely regulated online gambling market. At the moment any New Zealand resident who has a complaint or other issue with an online gambling operator has no recourse to the law.
In some cases, this has led to players seeking withdrawal of their winnings with little success. There is also a concern that minors may currently be able to gamble online, but no sanctions are available if this is ever discovered. More broadly, there is the perception that criminals would capitalise on the popularity of the games for their own benefit. Unfortunately, this is an area where there is plenty of room for improvement. To avoid this, residents have often used third-party sites like Casino.org, as they review the operators offering the incredibly popular online pokies. With the lack of current regulation, this is often the route for most players in New Zealand.
Even so, there’s one more, very significant reason to introduce tighter regulation, and that is to raise revenue for the government, both in the form of license fees payable by operators and taxes that they will pay on any operating profits.
The proposals to date
As time has gone on, we have gradually learned more about what kinds of regulations would be introduced. Van Velden’s initial statement in 2024 simply announced that a fixed number of licenses would be issued to New Zealand-based operators.
She also took great care to point out that her aim was not to encourage more gambling but simply to make it a safer activity for everyone involved. In all likelihood, this will also involve the setting up of a new regulatory body, probably along similar lines as the UK’s Gambling Commission, which oversees all activity and enforces regulation in one of the world’s biggest online casino markets. Certain elements of the proposed legislation were laid out at the outset. It was announced that no one under the age of 18 would be permitted to take part in online gambling. Restrictions on the licenses to be issued would include only allowing casino games with no sports betting or lottery elements included.
There were also to be certain easings of the rules regarding publicity, with licensed operators permitted to advertise, but with strict guidelines regarding the scheduling of TV ads and the content of all publicity. One element that was to be forbidden was sponsorship by casino operators of sports teams, events, and even TV shows.
In a recent update, some extra detail has been provided about the scope and content of the proposed changes. It has been decided that a maximum of 15 licenses will be awarded, and each one will last for three years. Already, this has stimulated a little controversy, with the Sky City casino group suggesting that this number should be reduced. While they claim this would be to restrict overseas operators swamping the sector, as a potential applicant themselves, this has been seen as a move on their part to limit competition. As such, it’s being ignored by the powers that be.
There has also been more information released about the penalties to be levied on operators who allow underage gambling. A requirement will be to have an effective age-verification system. Those who are found to fail in this respect will face fines of up to NZ$5 million depending on the severity of the offence.
No doubt more flesh will be added to the bones of the proposed legislation as it moves towards becoming law, and 2026 is being mooted as the year when it will eventually come into effect. Until then, many are looking on with interest, and perhaps a little caution, at what form it will eventually take.