Government policies and strategies
The rapid expansion of gambling opportunities, especially ‘pokie machines’ (more
formally known as Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs)) in New Zealand over the past
two decades has led to the introduction of a new Gambling Act 2003, which was passed
in September 2003. The Act aims to control, regulate and monitor gambling and to
prevent and/or minimise gambling related harm.
Problem gambling was declared as a public health issue in the Act and as such, the
Ministry of Health has developed a strategy for public health, prevention, treatment
and research. This work is funded by a levy on the gambling industry
at a rate determined predominantly by the proportion of all people accessing problem
gambling services and by the mode of gambling identified as the primary source of
their problem.
For more information, visit the
Ministry
of Health website.
The Department of Internal Affairs
(DIA) has the primary responsibility for regulating
the gambling sector in New Zealand. Among these regulatory and accountability
measures undertaken by the DIA are the introduction of Electronic Monitoring Systems
(EMS) on pokie machines (EGMs) and enforcement of the
requirement that profits from
EGMs are to be allocated in a transparent process to the community, as well as licensing
and compliance issues.
For more information, visit the
Department of Internal Affairs website.
Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) have also been assigned a partial regulatory
role with respect to Class 4 gambling venues in the Act. The Gambling Act 2003 required
each TLA to consult with their communities in developing a Gambling Venue Policy
(GVP) for their district, which was to be implemented within six months of enactment
of the Gambling Act 2003. This policy covers electronic gambling machines and stand
alone New Zealand Racing Board (previously TAB) venues. Specifically, Section 101
of the Gambling Act requires every territorial local authority to adopt a policy
on the location of class 4 (operating ‘gaming machines’ outside of casinos – determined
high risk) gambling venues (only for those venues not licensed before 18 October
2001), and the number of EGMs operating within these venues (so that numbers could
reduce
below the maximum of nine allowed in the legislation). In developing this
gambling venue policy, the TLA must take into account the social impacts of all
gambling in their district. All policies were required to be developed in accordance with the
special consultative procedures specified in the Local Government Act 2002
and are to be reviewed no later than three years after implementation. TLAs are
currently (2007) reviewing their Gambling Venue Policies.
Gambling expenditure in New Zealand
Gambling has expanded rapidly in New Zealand during the last 16 years. Expenditure
has increased from $426 million in 1989 to $1.977 billion in 2006. The following
are some of the key trends for the 2005/06 period as cited on the Department of
Internal Affairs website (visit the following link for further details -
DIA Gambling Statistics).
Overall, gambling expenditure decreased for the second year in a row (by 2.5%, from
$2.027 billion to $1.977 billion). While expenditure on racing and sports betting,
casinos and Lotteries Commission products all increased, an 11.8% reduction was
observed for non-casino EGM expenditure.
Compared with the previous year:
- expenditure on racing and sports betting
increased by 4.5% (from $247 million to $258 million). This is significant as it
is the largest percentage increase over a year since 1995
- expenditure on Lotteries Commission products increased
by 14.6% (from $280 million to $321 million). This is the highest ever
expenditure figure for the Lotteries Commission
- expenditure on casino gambling (including casino EGMs)
increased by 4.4% (from $472 million to $493 million). This
contrasts with the decline of 2.5% from the previous year
- expenditure on non-casino EGMs decreased by 11.8% (from $1.027 billion to $906 million). This follows the
decrease of 0.8% in 2004/05. The Department of Internal Affairs attributes this
decrease to the new regulatory environment introduced by the Gambling Act 2003 (and
its associated regulations) being complemented by the smoke-free legislation that
was introduced in December 2004.
Some
problem gambling intervention statistics
The following key statistics have been taken from the Ministry of Health's
document:
Problem Gambling Intervention Services in New Zealand, 2006 National Service-user
statistics, available at the
Ministry of Health website.
In 2006:
- 2,651 new callers accessed the Gambling Helpline (down 7.7% on the previous
year)
- 3,906 clients accessed face-to-face gambling counselling services (an decrease
of 3.1% on the previous year)
- The majority of new gambler clients to intervention services cited EGMs as their
primary problem mode:
- Face-to-face services: non-casino EGMs - 64.2% (down from 72.5% in 2005), and
casino EGMs - 17.5% (up from 8.7% in 2005)
- Gambling Helpline: non-casino EGMs - 74.9% (down from 78.7% in 2005), and casino
EGMs - 10.6% (up from 9.0% in 2005)
- Gender - almost half of new gambler clients and approximately three-quarters
of significant other clients were female:
- Gambling Helpline: gambler clients (46.8%), significant other clients (76.0%)
- Face-to-face services: gambler clients (44.8%), significant other
clients (68.8%)
- Ethnicity - new gambler clients:
- Gambling Helpline: while the percentages of NZ European/Pakeha
(47.7%), Asian peoples (7.6%) and Other (4.0%) gamblers decreased a little from
2005, the proportions of Māori (30%) and Pacific (10.6%) increased slightly
- Face-to-face services: the proportions of NZ European/Pakeha (47.3%), Māori
(32.2%), and Other (6.1%) decreased slightly from 2005, and small increases were
observed for percentages of Pacific (7.4%) and Asian (7.1%) peoples
- Age:
- Gambling Helpline: more than half (58.9%) of new gambler clients to the helpline
were under 40 years of age, compared with almost half (46.0%) of new significant
other clients
- Face-to-face services: more than half (53.5%) of new face-to-face gambler
clients were under 40 years of age, compared with just under half (49.8%) of new
significant other clients.
Top
