23 October 2026
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026 and came into force on 1 May 2026, creates a licensing regime for up to 15 online casino operators in New Zealand. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which was designated as the licensing authority and ongoing regulator, is expected to start issuing online casino licences in early 2027, meaning licensed operators will not be fully operational until after that date.
In an ascending-clock auction for the New Zealand online casino licences, which closed after 10 rounds, 11 entities won the right to apply for the 15 available licences, with bids reported around NZ$15 million per licence.
Under the proposed advertising regulations outlined as part of the Civil Aviation Authority, once the licensing process is complete, operators will be allowed to advertise, but with significant restrictions. Mahesh Singh, Program Manager for the Online Casino Gambling Bureau, states, “Advertising of New Zealand online casinos has always been illegal, and will remain so until after the licensing process. However, the regulator's draft advertising rules for after that date show that this holds true even for fully compliant and licensed operators.”
The proposed New Zealand advertising regulations prohibit both affiliate marketing and the use of paid endorsements. Operators will be held responsible for the actions of any third-party marketers, and a strict age 18 restriction applies. Even targeting 18-24-year-olds will be prohibited unless an operator can demonstrate appropriate controls - similar to an R18 movie screening.
Monitoring will be stringent, with requirements that operators use targeted age-gating, only place ads when the child audience is under 20%, and not promote interactive game sizes, says Singh, with this last requirement motivated by concerns over gambling-related harm.
"The regulation has two main goals. One, it aims to discourage operators from portraying gambling as risk-free and the other is to limit their influence over the public," says Singh.
The proposed rules ban pop-ups and interactive ads like gamified ones, as well as the use of a player's name or performance metrics to encourage increased play frequency or stakes. Operators won't be allowed to target ads at self-excluded players or known problem gamblers.
"The use of actual or implied endorsements such as the names of players or previous winners is also prohibited," says Singh, "as are special requests for musical recordings designed to appeal to gamblers."