Gambling System Update

22 September 2025

Kia ora,

Earlier this month we marked Gambling Harm Awareness Week, and as New Zealand’s gambling regulator, we play a key role in minimising harm and maximising community benefit from gambling.

This year, Gambling Harm Awareness Week focused on the effect of gambling on young people and how talking about gambling harm can make a huge difference. If you haven’t seen it already, I’d encourage you to take a look at Safer Gambling Aotearoa’s ‘Spot the Signs’ video on YouTube and check out the information and resources on their website.  

It was great to discuss the recently released cashless gaming discussion document throughout a series of workshops in August. This document covers the proposed future of the Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) and some potential Alternative Payment Technologies (APT) for Class 4 gaming machines, and I enjoyed hearing your feedback and insights. Now that consultation has closed, we begin the process of reviewing and considering all the submissions as we move forward with the next steps.  

Finally, we’ve seen a range of legislation progress through various stages of the parliamentary process recently. Read on for details of these, as well as the latest Granted data release.  

Ngā mihi nui,  
Vicki Scott 
Gambling Director 

Spotlight on Compliance

Data gleaned from Class 4 venue inspections lets us see the volume and outcomes of any compliance issues that our team identify.  
 
Since we started measuring this data in late 2020, we have observed some interesting trends with both the total number of cases requiring some level of compliance action, versus the number of cases with no further action required.  

Here we can see two ‘spikes’ in cases identified – one between 2022 and 2023, and the other between 2023 and 2024. Interestingly, 2024 stands out as a year in which cases requiring compliance action surpassed those without.

This can be attributed to an increase in cases overall between those two years – following a suite of new regulations and an increase in inspections conducted.  

Online casino gambling update

The Online Casino Gambling Bill continues its progress through the Select Committee, with oral submissions currently underway. 

Next month, the Programme Director of Online Gambling Implementation and I will travel to Canada to attend the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) conference. This will be an opportunity to strengthen collaboration with international regulators and share insights to support sector compliance and successful implementation of the new legislation. 

Granted data release highlights community benefit

The most recent data released on our Granted website demonstrates how Class 4 gambling funds a huge range of community-driven projects and initiatives across New Zealand. 

Here’s a snapshot of grant funding throughout 2024: 

• $345.66 million was granted to authorised community purposes  
• Sport was the largest category recipient, receiving $177 million  
• A total of 8,888 organisations were funded through grants 

Want to see the positive impact of Class 4 grants funding in your local area? Or check out some recent upgrades to the site’s functionality? Visit the Granted website to explore. 

Racing Amendment Bill passed

In late June Parliament passed the Racing Amendment Bill – a new piece of legislation that prohibits online racing and sports betting operated by any organisation except New Zealand’s domestic provider TAB NZ.   

It is now illegal, under New Zealand law, for any person or organisation except TAB NZ, to promote or take bets on racing or sporting events from a person located in New Zealand.  

This prohibition applies specifically to sports and racing betting. It does not affect other types of online gambling, which will be regulated by forthcoming legislation, including licences for approved operators. 

Have your say on the Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill

There is still time to make a submission on the Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill, which was introduced in Parliament in July and referred to the Governance and Administration Select Committee in August.

Submissions on the Bill close on Wednesday 24 September. 

Part 8 of the Bill contains amendments to the Gambling Act 2003. The most substantial of which is the repeal of all provisions related to Licensed Promoters, including the associated regulations. As there have been no approved Licensed Promoters for over a decade and no apparent demand for any, it was decided to repeal these unused provisions. The Bill also repeals all the transitional provisions from the enactment of the Gambling Act 25 years ago. 

Other changes in the Bill are to: 

• Section 86 – clarifying that only gaming machines in class 4 venues must be connected to the EMS
• Section 92 and 93 – removing the requirement that class 4 venue licences must contain the model and serial number of gaming machines, removing the need to re-issue licences each time machines are changed 
• Section 95 – clarifying that while merged clubs must form a single club, they do not have to dispose of all other properties 
• Section 102 – removing the requirement for territorial authorities to send the Department a copy of their class 4 venue policy and instead requiring them to publish it on their website 
• Section 301 – making it an offence for anyone under 18 to purchase a Lotteries Commission product (including Lotto) or for anyone to sell a ticket to a person under 18. 
• Sections 313 and 314 – amendments to ensure regulations about pre-commitment, player tracking or other harm minimisation systems can be made in respect of both casinos and class 4 venues.

Biometrics Privacy Code launched

In early August the Privacy Commissioner issued the Biometrics Processing Privacy Code 2025 – a set of rules that organisations collecting, using and managing biometric information for processing by an automated biometric system must comply with.  

This includes some types of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) which are used by some gambling operators as part of their systems to identify known problem gamblers and exclude under-age persons. At present, FRT is primarily used in casinos, but it is increasingly finding a role in class 4 venues. 

Any facial recognition technology that continuously monitors a venue, and automates identification processes (such as excluded gamblers, under-age players, or people showing signs of potential gambling harm) is considered a biometric processing system and must meet the conditions of the Code.  

If you are using FRT (or are considering implementing it at your venue) please read and familiarise yourself with the Code.