New Zealand introduces online casino bill to parliament

Steve (Ziv) Chen

2 July 2025 at 7:09am UTC-4

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New Zealand has introduced the Online Casino Gambling Bill to its House of Representatives, taking a step closer to the legalization of igaming in the country.

While sports gambling has been legal since 2003, online casino gaming has been prohibited. Any casino gambling done by New Zealanders was with illegal offshore entities.

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This bill, which was proposed by Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden, will open an auction process for up to 15 licenses.

In a statement, van Velden said, “The Online Casino Gambling Bill will introduce a regulatory system for online gambling in New Zealand, which will prioritize harm minimization, consumer protection, and tax collection.”

Van Velden explained that the limited number of licenses will ensure that the process weeds out unregulated entities, so only approved platforms will be able to serve New Zealand residents.

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“My goal is not to increase the amount of gambling that is happening online, but to enable New Zealanders who wish to play casino games online to do so more safely than they can do today,” she said last year in a statement to Reuters.

Those who receive a government license will be allowed to advertise, but with restrictions. Gambling sites found to be operating without a licence face fines of up to NZ$5 million (US$3.04 million)1 NZD = 0.6088 USD
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The bill will go to the select committee towards the end of the year, and the licensing auctions are planned to begin as early as February next year.