15 October 2019
Who's who
The new Gambling leadership team at DIA is now in place and we’re working on our priorities and work plan for the coming year. Our team members are:
Lisa Docherty, Director Regulatory System, Gambling
Charlotte Stanley, Deputy Director Operations
Gordana Brkljaca, Manager Engagement & Innovation
Caroline Holden, Principal Advisor
Please continue to use the gambling.compliance@dia.govt.nz, gaming.licensing@dia.govt.nz or casino.operations@dia.govt.nz emails to conduct your regulatory activities, and be assured you will be responded to in a timely manner.
Five sentenced for misuse of grant funding
In August, five convicted defendants and one incorporated society were sentenced in the Manukau District Court.
The offences relate to the misuse of grant funding from gambling grants derived from Class 4 gambling (pokie machines) and follows an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs’ Gambling Group.
As the Gambling regulator we ensure that money from gambling that is earmarked for community benefit is managed and distributed fairly and transparently.
Rugby World Cup 2019 Sweepstakes
With the Rugby World Cup competition in full swing, we have had some enquiries around the rules when running sweepstakes.
Sweepstakes are allowed under the Gambling Act 2003, but must comply with certain rules, which are summarised below and can be found can be found in full in on our website under Classes of Gambling rules.
Some rules to follow when planning your sweepstake:
- Prize money can’t exceed $500.
- Any money raised must be returned as prizes.
- Firearms, liquor, tobacco and vouchers for sexual services are all prohibited prizes.
- The organiser can’t pocket a fee or profit in any way from holding a sweepstake.
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR SOCIETIES, CLUBS and VENUES:
Scheduled EMS Service Outage: Normal gaming operations will continue during the outage
Interruption of EMS Service scheduled for Wednesday 6 November 2019 and Wednesday 20 November 2019
The Department and Intralot will conduct a Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BCP/DR) exercise on the Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) on Wednesday 6 November 2019.
This will result in an EMS outage starting at 10am on 6 November. We expect all services to be fully restored by 10am the following day.
Normal gaming operations at venues will not be affected during the outage and the Intralot Service Desk and DIA Licensing teams will still be available.
However, the following services will not be available during the outage period:
* EMS reports
* Processing of all EGM servicing (e.g., EGM enablement, EGM game/base changes etc.)
* Site controller diagnostics and Site Controller swaps cannot be actioned
* Issuing of new licences
Depending on when the EMS service is restored, EMS daily reports on 7 November could be delayed.
The interruption to services will not affect your ability to comply with your obligations under the Gambling Act 2003.
There will be a second EMS service interruption on Wednesday 20 November when the EMS service is returned to normal operation.
If you have any questions, please email us at ems@dia.govt.nz or contact your liaison officer.
Mystery Shopper and main use piloted
DIA recently piloted two regulatory initiatives focused on reducing gambling harm – mystery shopping in class 4 gambling venues and casinos and taking a closer look at the main use of venues to ensure that gambling is not the primary activity.
Some societies and venues who participated in the Mystery Shopper exercise will be aware that the results were disappointing.
Our next steps are to conduct an analysis on the information gathered over both pilots to inform, and potentially integrate with, our ongoing compliance strategy.
It is our expectation that the reports on the mystery shop will support venues and societies in their continuous improvement of harm minimisation practices, and look forward to hearing about any changes you have made.
UPDATE: Online Gambling Consultation
Submissions closed for the Online Gambling in New Zealand public discussion document on 30 September.
The discussion document offered some options for how online gambling could be regulated in the future and for minimising gambling harm.
Around 1500 submissions were received. Many of these were in support of the Coastguard and Heart Foundation being able to sell their raffle tickets online. Submissions were also received from members of the public, community groups, gambling providers, gambling harm services, and a range of other interested parties. Submissions covered a wide range of issues, including the possible licensing of overseas operators, the question of loot boxes in video games, preserving the market share for New Zealand providers, and managing the potential harm resulting from online gambling.
The Department's Policy group will now work on analysing submissions before making policy recommendations to the Minister in early 2020.
Did you know?
Did you know that if you're a Council or a community organisation looking for information on Class 4 (pokie) gambling in your region, you can find it on our website.
Just go to our Gambling Machine Proceeds Dashboard. Open the data source and use the filters to select the region and time period you want.
Here's an example of the Dashboard information you can access.
Education /Training Opportunity
Returning a community benefit through grants is a key role of corporate societies.
The Philanthropy New Zealand organisation has some great grant-making webinars this month. If you’re looking for ways you can be most effective in your grant-making, check them out and pass on to your networks.
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