New Zealand’s minister for mental health has urged the nation to weigh in on how the government should tackle its gambling harm strategy for the next three years.
At the start of the country’s Gambling Harm Awareness Week, Matt Doocey explained how statistics highlight the significance of gambling harm and how essential it is that the state has interventions in place to offset its impact.
New Zealanders will have just over a month to provide feedback on the 34-page document outlining the government’s proposals to tackle gambling harm.
The new three-year plan, which has been costed at NZ$87.7m, includes expanding clinical service provisions, growing the gambling harm workforce, delivering preventative community-focused promotions and ramping up research projects.
The new programme would run until 30 June 2028 and costs NZ$11.6m more than the previous three-year budget.
According to the document, the New Zealand government noted that about one in five people experience harm as a result of their own or someone else’s gambling, with that rate hire among Māori, Pacific and Asian communities.
Doocey declared: “I would encourage you to have your say on this consultation document by 6 October 2024 to help inform its development. In talking to people about mental health and addiction, I’ve become firmly of the view that the ideas we need to solve the issues we face are already in the community, so please make your voice heard.”
He added: “I want to particularly acknowledge those who have lived experience of gambling harm, as your perspectives will give a strong understanding of what works and what doesn’t at the community level.
“With the proposed strategy having a strong focus on ensuring people with lived experience are actively involved in our harm prevention and minimisation efforts.”
Doocey continued, addressing New Zealand’s plans to regulate the online casino space, through a licensing system that will be designed “to minimise harm, support tax collection, and provide consumer protections to New Zealanders”, as per the strategy consultation form.
The regulation is expected to come into effect in 2026 and was first confirmed in late July when Brooke van Velden, minister of internal affairs, announced that the process was already underway, in an effort to crack down on the number of offshore firms operating in the market.
She explained: “There will be a licencing system for online casinos, where operators will need to comply with a set of criteria before they will be able to offer services to New Zealanders. It will be illegal for unlicensed operators to offer services to New Zealanders.
“Licensing is how we regulate most forms of gambling domestically. 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.”
All licensees will be required to meet all regulatory requirements, with each license lasting three years, while a limited number of them will be allocated via auction.
However, amid the updates over New Zealand’s reasons behind regulating the casino sector, there has been limited explanation on how regulation would reduce gambling-related harm.
Alongside one in five people being impacted by gambling, nearly 50% of all gambling harm is experienced by someone who takes part in low-risk wagering.
However, by bringing online casino into the regulated fold, the government would be looking to bring some form of order to the sector, while also collecting tax dollars.
The document continued: “The offshore online gambling market has grown significantly in recent years, with higher participation, higher spend, and greater harm being reported by New Zealanders.”
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