1 May 2026

Kia ora,

The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 (the Act) is now in force. This is a pivotal milestone in building a safer, regulated online casino gambling environment for New Zealand. My team and I can now commence the next phase of implementation work, including the final preparations for running the three-stage licencing process.

Refreshed guidance has been published today

With the Act confirmed and in force, we can now confidently provide clear information about what happens next and the upcoming licensing process. I encourage you to review the refreshed guidance on our website. It contains updated information on the:

• implementation timeline
• advertising prohibition
• licensing process, including:

  -  expression of interest requirements, and how you can prepare
  -  the format of the auction.

Summary of current legal requirements

Today the renewed prohibition on advertising unlicensed online casino gambling has commenced. The Act creates enhanced powers to ensure compliance with the new regulatory system, including the ability to issue take down notices and increased pecuniary penalties of up to $5 million (NZD) for unlawful advertising.

As communicated last week, I want to reassure providers that were offering online casino gambling to people in New Zealand before 1 May 2026 may continue to do so during the transition period, subject to the new advertising restrictions.

The legal requirements will next change on 1 December 2026, when unlicensed providers will be required to cease providing services to people in New Zealand. Providers who have submitted a licence application may continue operating without advertising until the outcome of their application has been determined. Only if a licence application is approved, and a licence granted, will the operator be able to begin full operations in New Zealand under the Act, including advertising with restrictions.

A reminder about our engagement approach 

As we get closer to kicking off the competitive process, a brief reminder of our engagement approach. Following the Government’s decision to award the right to apply for a licence through a competitive process, we need to ensure our engagement maintains the integrity of this process. As a result, neither I, my team, nor my colleagues in the Department of Internal Affairs are able to meet with potential providers relating to online casino gambling.

Asking us questions
You can ask us a question through our dedicated Ask a question form, which we will publicly answer on our Q&A page. We are taking this approach so that information can be transparently accessed by everyone who is interested. Depending on volume, we aim to batch-publish answers to your questions every two weeks.

Making a complaint

Anyone can report or make a complaint about unlawful online casino gambling advertising by contacting the Department directly at: onlinegambling@dia.govt.nz 

Nothing changes for existing customers until December

There are currently no changes for online casino customers in New Zealand. Online casinos that were already providing to people in New Zealand before today are allowed to continue to operate until 1 December 2026. We will release further information for existing customers later this year.

Ngā mihi nui,
Trina Lowry
Programme Director - Online Gambling Implementation