The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force in New Zealand on 1 May 2026. The Act creates the country's first dedicated licensing regime for online casino gambling and immediately prohibits the operation and advertising of unlicensed online casino gambling. The licensing regime will become operational in stages. The Secretary for Internal Affairs will invite expressions of interest from operators in July 2026 through the Government Electronic Tenders Service. Cabinet has decided that the first competitive licensing round will be conducted by auction.
The Act's core licensing obligations are set out in Part 2. The Secretary for Internal Affairs may grant up to 15 licences, each covering a single brand. No person or entity may hold more than three licences. Each licence is valid for up to three years, renewable for a further five. Applicants must satisfy character and suitability criteria before the Secretary may grant a licence. Part 3 imposes harm minimisation and consumer protection obligations on licensed operators, including age verification at 18, mandatory self-exclusion mechanisms, and compliance with advertising restrictions.
Offshore online casino operators that currently supply New Zealand players must either obtain a licence or cease supplying those players. The advertising prohibition applies from 1 May 2026 and does not wait for the licensing window to open, affecting advertising networks, sponsorship agreements, and affiliate arrangements directed at New Zealand audiences. Payment service providers that process transactions for unlicensed online casino operators face enforcement exposure under the Act's prohibition provisions. The Department of Internal Affairs is the designated enforcement body.
The full licensed regime is not expected to be operationally complete until 2027, during which the Department will process applications, establish compliance infrastructure, and assess operator suitability. The Act does not retrospectively authorise existing offshore supply during the transition. The sequencing of enforcement action against offshore platforms without a New Zealand presence will be an operational question for the Department. The advertising prohibition is not subject to the same phased implementation and takes effect from commencement on 1 May 2026.
Licentium advises on iGaming licensing and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions and can draw on a partner network for New Zealand-specific legal counsel. Operators assessing licence eligibility, advertisers reviewing exposure under the prohibition provisions, and payments operators evaluating account relationships with online gambling businesses are welcome to contact us. Work we undertake includes iGaming licensing applications, advertising compliance reviews, gambling payments and banking access, harm minimisation programme design, and multi-jurisdictional operator compliance.
Source: Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 (New Zealand), Public Act 2026 No 14, in force 1 May 2026