Online Casino Gambling Bill public submission process

Introduction

The OCG Bill, in its current form, represents a major risk for future funding of community sport. Sports organisations across New Zealand – NSOs, RSOs, Clubs and RSTs – must communicate our significant concerns to Government using the public submission process (now open but closing on 17 August 2025) and then directly to Government Ministers and local MPs. To give our sporting sector a chance of being heard by key decision-makers, our sector needs hundreds of submissions to be made.

The Government is legalising the currently illegal online casino market – a good thing – but, in doing so, is dismissing the 50-year-principle that gambling profits are shared with the community.

The OCG Bill will empower Government to auction off 15 licenses for overseas operators to offer online casino gambling to New Zealanders. The Government will take all profits from the auction, a 12% casino license duty and GST. A 1.24% levy will go to problem gambling. The licenced operators will have no obligation to provide community funding.

This matters because this new legislation will deny community sports funding from the online gambling. Global trends suggest that online gambling will eat into and eventually replace pokie gaming altogether. If that happens, a vital current source of funding for community sport disappears, without there being any replacement. Community sport has been the clearest example of gambling’s ‘social return’. The grants received from the pokie trusts have enabled wider community participation, improved resources, better playing experiences, and more affordable participation affordable fees.

The Minister of Internal Affairs (who has responsibility for the OCG Bill) has described sport’s reliance on pokie funding as ‘a dependency’. Actually, it is an economic reality. Community sports organizations, run mostly or wholly by volunteers, are struggling to remain financially sustainable. Inflation is hitting hard. Sponsorship revenue is scarce. Local government support is reducing.

The grants from gambling revenue are essential to maintaining a healthy community sport environment.

Make a public submission!!

Each year, about 50% of the money going to sport from pokie grants goes to Clubs. On top of that, about 43% goes to RSOs. Most of this RSO grant money is spent on community sport activities, supporting the work of Clubs. None of this money is spent on professional / high performance sport. The more attention we bring to the problem, the more likely the Government will respond with a solution.

Netball NZ now need Clubs and RSOs to make submissions to the Select Committee before 17 August 2025.

The Select Committee needs to hear how important grants from gambling revenue is to your RSO or Club. If you don’t complain, MPs and the Government will think the problem is not serious.

You must submit your view to the Select Committee considering the legislation by 17 August.

How to make a submission

It will only take 30-40 minutes to prepare and submit. The Select Committee just needs to hear, in your words, how crucial grants from gambling revenue (the pokie trusts) are to your RSO or Club.

Go to the Parliament link: https://www.parliament.nz/en/ECommitteeSubmission/54SCGOA_SCF_15AF0468-FAB5-4BFD-AB1D-08DDB77FF1E9/CreateSubmission and follow the steps to either;

• send the Select Committee your own letter 
• use Parliament’s online form to make your comments 

Article added: Wednesday 06 August 2025