State and territory licensing for wagering; online casino prohibited federally
Australia
Heavy online wagering activity, no legal online casino, and advertising rules that keep tightening.
Prohibited online casino
New Zealand
A small market introducing its first online casino licences, with betting still reserved to the domestic agency.
| Product | Position | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Online casino | Licensed | Commercial operators can be licensed to offer this product to local customers. |
| Sports betting | State monopoly | Reserved to a state or state-controlled operator; no commercial licence is available. |
| Online poker | Licensed | Commercial operators can be licensed to offer this product to local customers. |
| Lottery | State monopoly | Reserved to a state or state-controlled operator; no commercial licence is available. |
How the market works
Under the Gambling Act 2003, New Zealanders could lawfully gamble online only with the two domestic operators, the lottery and the racing betting agency. Offshore casino sites were neither licensed nor effectively prevented from taking New Zealand custom, which produced a sizeable untaxed sector with no local consumer protection obligations.
Legislation to licence a limited number of online casino operators has been carried through, with licensing expected to begin from 2026. The design features a capped number of licences awarded by auction, a levy on revenue, advertising restrictions and harm-minimisation duties. Sports and race betting is not part of the opening and remains with the domestic agency.
New Zealand's wider framework is distinctive for the community funding model attached to gaming machines, under which a defined share of proceeds must be returned to community purposes through licensed societies.
Who regulates it
Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), based in Wellington and operating under Gambling Act 2003. The New Zealand department that regulates domestic gambling and is implementing the country's first online casino licences.
Licence types issued
- Class 4 gaming machine licences
- Online casino licensing under new legislation
Questions about New Zealand
Other markets in Oceania
Background reading
Legal and compliance
What a gaming licence actually covers
A licence is not a badge of quality and it is not valid everywhere. What it authorises, who it binds, and why one company often holds a dozen.
Legal and compliance
How gambling is taxed, and why the base matters
A tax on stakes and a tax on gross gaming revenue can carry the same headline number and produce completely different businesses.
Legal and compliance
How a company enters a new market
The sequence from legal assessment to launch, and the parts that routinely take longer than anyone plans for.
Legal and compliance
What grey and black markets actually mean
The industry uses three words for the legal status of a market and rarely defines them. Here is what each one means in practice.