Casino Regulation is Underway in New Zealand

After a long time in the pipeline, it became official: the Government of New Zealand is set to regulate online casino gambling. We here at NZCasinoClub.com talked about New Zealand considering updating their gambling regulations not long ago and now it is officially underway. It is in the process of setting up a licensing and regulatory framework that is set to be operational by 2026.

New Zealand Set to Regulate Online Casino Gambling

New Zealand’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke Van Velden, recently said that the government would be adopting a high-level approach to regulating and licensing online casino gambling in the country. The objective would be multi-pronged: to provide players from New Zealand with adequate consumer protection, to minimise harm, and to boost tax collection.

The Minister said the licensing and regulating of online casinos would ensure that operators who did not have a valid license out of New Zealand could no longer target players from the country.

Details of Proposed Regulatory Framework Shared by Government

Even as the government goes about putting together the framework to regulate and license online casino gambling in the country, Ms. Brooke shared basic details of how the regulatory framework would function.

She said her ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, would be responsible for regulating and licensing online gambling in New Zealand through the new framework.

The number of licenses issues would be limited, according to her. They would be available through an online auction – interested parties would need to bid for them. The winning bidders would be those who met all the regulatory requirements.

Limitations on Player Age and also on Advertising Allowed

The new framework would have in place steps and measures to avoid underage gambling and protect vulnerable players. Only players above the age of 18 would be allowed to play for real money at the newly licensed online casinos.

There would be a limited amount of advertising that licensed casino operators would be allowed. However, the new rules would ensure that online casino gaming is separated from other gambling products like lotteries, or even sports betting, for that matter.

Speaking about the decision to hive off the different gambling products, the Internal Affairs Minister said the purpose was to ensure that all operators met the basic objectives mentioned earlier. She said, “This is not intended to increase the amount of gambling New Zealanders do but to ensure operators meet requirements for consumer protection and harm minimisation, as well as paying tax.”

Local New Zealand Gambling Market Responds Positively to Regulation Initiative

The response to the proposal to introduce regulation in New Zealand has been favorable among local operators. One of the big fish in the New Zealand pond – SkyCity Entertainment Group Ltd – said that it completely supported the initiative.

In a statement, the company said that they supported the initiative to regulate online casino gaming in the country. They spoke about doing so with a strong emphasis on other critical areas of online gambling, including host responsibility initiatives.

SkyCity CEO Jason Walbridge extended support to the plan to regulate online casino gambling and, more importantly, place limitations on the number of licenses issued annually and also on the advertising side of things.

In a post on LinkedIn, he said, “SkyCity has long supported regulating online play to minimise harm and protect Kiwis. Limiting advertising and the number of operators in New Zealand is a good way of doing this…Currently there is a lot of money going offshore that should be staying in New Zealand as tax and community benefits. We hope this will be a key part of any future framework.”

Online Gambling in New Zealand Undergoing Definitive Changes

The plan to regulate online casino gambling is the first major change that the newly elected National Party government would be able to introduce. It was already part of the party’s electoral promises. In the run-up to the elections, it faced off against the Labour Party on multiple issues, one of the most vocal being gambling revenue from offshore operators.

The National Party had in fact stated that it would be able to generate revenue to the tune of NZ$179 million annually from offshore operators by licensing and regulating offshore casinos.

The Party also lamented the lack of Goods and Service Tax (GST) collection from the black market, a claim that the Labour Party has contested hotly. It said that GST was being collected in New Zealand, and the numbers stood at a modest yet cool NZ$40 million each year, thanks to the service tax of 15% on all services and intangible elements that offshore operators had been paying since October 2016.