The New Zealand government is pushing a key piece of legislation—the Online Casino Gambling Act—to address the increasing infiltration of offshore gambling platforms into the domestic population. Once passed, the act will issue up to 15 legal online casino licenses over the next three years, marking New Zealand's official entry into a new phase of comprehensive regulation of online gambling.
The bill, submitted to Parliament this week by New Zealand's Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke van Velden, focuses on three main objectives: reducing social harm, protecting consumer rights, and regulating the tax mechanism. Van Velden emphasized that the policy's starting point is not to encourage more people to gamble, but to provide a legal and safe option for the many existing online gamblers, thereby reducing their risks of fraud and unsecured operations on illegal foreign platforms.
Currently, New Zealand law does not prohibit citizens from accessing offshore gambling sites, but these platforms are not regulated locally, with common issues including false advertising, financial black holes, and enticing marketing. Recently, a case of a young person committing suicide due to online gambling addiction caused national shock and became a catalyst for the government to accelerate legislation.
Under the new bill, any unlicensed provider of online casino services will face a fine of up to 3 million New Zealand dollars (about 13 million yuan), and third parties who promote or advertise these illegal platforms will also face severe penalties. Additionally, licensed operators will be required to implement anti-addiction mechanisms in the future, including betting limits, game time controls, bans on inducive bonuses and advertisements, and the implementation of a "self-exclusion" feature to protect vulnerable players.
Currently, major international gambling companies such as bet365, 888, TAB, and SkyCity have expressed strong interest and are closely monitoring the legislative progress, showing the rising attractiveness of the New Zealand market to the global gambling industry.
Next, the bill will enter the Parliamentary Select Committee stage, and the public can also express their opinions through the hearing process. Once the bill is deliberated and passed by Parliament, it will be officially signed into law by the Governor-General of New Zealand. This means that New Zealand may bid farewell to the era of unregulated offshore gambling and step into a new era of institutionalized and compliant online gambling.
