New Zealand mulls gambling market reform
Month-long consultation paper calls for views on reforming current monopoly system
New Zealand’s government has launched a month-long public consultation into the state of online gambling in the Antipodean nation, with a liberalisation of the market included amongst proposals.
The Department of Internal Affairs consultation, which closes on 30 September, aims to understand if there is a need to update existing gambling laws in New Zealand, which were first introduced in 2003. It also outlines four possible options for reforming the existing New Zealand market, which is currently limited to the New Zealand Lottery and TAB.
One of the options is to retain the current status quo, with the second being to increase the number of products on offer by both providers.
The third option would allow the opening of the market to domestic operators, limited to businesses currently domiciled in New Zealand. The final option would extend the opening of the market to include charities and commercial businesses which are not currently domiciled in New Zealand.
Offshore gambling operators are currently barred from advertising gambling in New Zealand, however there is no prohibition on New Zealand-based players from accessing offshore gambling sites.
In addition to the potential licensing reforms, the New Zealand department of Internal Affairs asks for individual feedback on current tools available for restricting access to gambling, including self-exclusion, restricting credit card gambling, geo-blocking and making it an offence to gamble online.
Finally, the consultation paper asks for responses on the best methods of minimising gambling-related harm, outlining six potential methods which the New Zealand government may employ in the future.
Six options are included within the consultation, including the funding of problem gambling treatment by operators
According to government statistics, about 70% of New Zealanders over the age of 15 have gambled (whether online or land-based) in the past year.
There has also been an 84% rise in spending on offshore online gambling sites between 2015 and 2017, with over $243m spent in 2017 alone.