The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 (NZ) received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026 and entered into force on 1 May 2026. The Act establishes a permanent licensing regime for online casino gambling in New Zealand, ending the previous arrangement in which offshore operators served the New Zealand market without a domestic licence. The Department of Internal Affairs is the responsible regulator and is managing the licensing process. As of 1 May 2026, new offshore entrants are prohibited from offering online casino services to New Zealand residents.
The Act caps the number of licences at 15. The licensing regime covers casino-style games offered over the internet: slots, live dealer games, poker, roulette, and blackjack. Existing offshore operators that served New Zealand customers before 1 May 2026 may continue under transitional arrangements until 1 December 2026, after which only holders of a Department of Internal Affairs licence may lawfully offer online casino services to New Zealand customers.
Operators seeking a licence must satisfy fit-and-proper requirements, demonstrate financial soundness, and implement prescribed harm minimisation measures. Licensed platforms must make player-set deposit and spending limits available, provide self-exclusion tools, comply with advertising restrictions, and prohibit credit card payments. Platform operators, software providers whose games appear on licensed platforms, and payment processors routing online casino transactions are all within scope of the regime's compliance obligations.
The Act does not address sports betting or lottery products, which remain within the separate regulatory regimes governed by the Racing Industry Act 2020 and the Gambling Act 2003. Operators holding a licence from a recognised foreign regulator are not automatically entitled to a New Zealand licence; they must apply independently. Published Department of Internal Affairs guidance has not yet addressed how the Act applies to platforms accepting cryptocurrency payments, leaving open questions for operators currently accepting digital assets.
Licentium advises online gambling operators, platform suppliers, and investors on licensing and regulatory compliance in the Asia-Pacific region and can assist operators considering the New Zealand licensing process or transitional compliance obligations. Our partner network includes New Zealand and Australian gambling law specialists. Work we undertake includes gambling licence applications, regulatory change assessments, player protection compliance design, and payment processing regulatory analysis.
Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, in force 1 May 2026