GAMBITS

Over the past few months, we’ve been making some changes in the Gambling Group at DIA which will better position our regulatory function for the future and enable us to move our focus from regime to system.

Chris Thornborough, Acting Director of the Gambling Group says: “The change in approach reflects that we’re part of a wider system. The traditional regime approach is focused on compliance with the law. We will continue to focus on compliance with the Gambling Act, but, in the system approach, we’re also interested in how the wider gambling system operates in New Zealand, and how we can work with others in the system to achieve broader community outcomes.”

Chris has a regulatory background and has worked in public policy in New Zealand and Australia. He helped review DIA’s regulatory services function in 2017 and is assisting General Manager Maarten Quivooy with recruitment for a permanent director and managers for DIA’s Gambling Group. 

The mystery shopper programme is returning and will become part of business-as-usual regulatory activity in the coming months.

DIA worked with a range of stakeholders, including casinos, societies, venues, problem gambling service providers and dedicated Asian,Pacific and Māori services to co-design scenarios and evaluation criteria. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this work. The main aim of mystery shopping in casinos and class 4 venues, including clubs, is to minimise gambling harm by ensuring that policies and measures to achieve this are being applied effectively nationwide. 

As a regulator, we’re taking a very active interest in online gambling which, with the exception of the TAB and Lotto NZ, is unlawful to operate in New Zealand. This means we’ve been proactively looking for ways to better inform gamblers and those providing opportunities to gamble. Late last year, we took the opportunity to inform Kiwis of the risks of online gambling, through this media release. We’ve also written to visiting cruise ships to remind them of their obligations under the law.

As a regulator, we continue to look for opportunities to reinforce the integrity of the New Zealand regulatory system and to protect New Zealanders from the dangers of under-regulated or unregulated gambling. 

Gamblers in New Zealand spent $2.38 billion dollars on the four main forms of gambling in the 2017/18 financial year. The take from pokies increased 2.9 per cent to $895 million in the same year. Read the media release.

Detailed quarterly statistics are available on DIA’s website.

Venue operators play a crucial role in minimising gambling harm in our communities. We’re keen to share some of their success stories and give credit where it’s due.

Kudos to the Omakau Commercial Hotel. The venue operator there recently sat down with a customer over a cup of tea to complete the exclusion process. While filling in the forms, the customer shared that the catalyst for exclusion, and for seeking other problem-gambling support, had been the operator’s approach – six weeks earlier!

It just goes to show how important it is to observe patrons and approach people gently and discreetly to offer information and support.

Share your stories with us: email Gambits@dia.govt.nz

In late December, four individuals and one incorporated society were found guilty of 21 charges of criminal offences relating to the misuse of funding from gambling grants derived from Class 4 gambling.

For more information, read our media release on this issue.

GAAP requirements

The Gambling Act 2003 requires Class 4 societies to provide audited financial statements to the Department of Internal Affairs within three months of the end of a society's financial year. Section 108 of the Gambling Act 2003 requires financial statements prepared in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP). The relevant standard can be found at www.xrb.govt.nz.

The new reporting standards came into effect from 1 April 2015. Please ensure your financial statements comply with GAAP.

Rounding

We have received Gaming Machine Account Summary renewal applications with financial information for the “current year” that had been rounded to the nearest “thousands” instead of the nearest “dollars”.

The financial information for the current year should be consistent with the rounding in the financial statements. It should be rounded to the nearest dollar and reconciled with the audited financial statements.

Gaming Machine Account Summary - GST inclusive or GST exclusive? 

For Class 4 societies and clubs that are registered for GST, the Gaming Machine Account Summary licence renewal form should be completed on a GST exclusive basis. The GST portion of the costs should not be included.

Forensic Accountants - new contacts 

Last year, we said farewell to Jo Lipscombe, Investigating Accountant based in Wellington. 

Angela Lam, our Forensic Accountant in the Regulatory Investigation team has taken over the financial viability review of Class 4 licence applications. And Diana Kim joined DIA to work with Angela on the financial viability review. 

Angela has been with the Department for over two years. She was a specialist investigator at Inland Revenue with over 12 years’ experience in investigating complex tax evasion/tax fraud. She also led several successful prosecutions during her time there. Her background includes reviewing complex debt arrangements, phoenix companies; cash-flows forecast for the purpose of debt settlements and investigating cash economy and property transactions. 

Diana’s accounting background includes working for one of the big four accounting firms, and 9 years as a specialist tax investigator in the Significant Enterprise unit at Inland Revenue.