Policies for gambling and betting venues

Gambling and our responsibilities

We have responsibilities under the Gambling Act 2003 and Racing Act 2003 to set policies that help regulate and manage Class 4 gambling (pokie machines) and TAB (racing and sports) betting venues.

The number of TAB and pokie venues in Auckland is a concern for our communities, especially in low-income areas.

However, we are limited in what we can do. Legislation only allows us to create policies to help regulate New Zealand Racing Board (TAB) and Class 4 gambling venues.

We set these policies to help:

• control the growth of gambling in Auckland
• minimise the harm caused by gambling.

What we do not have authority to do

We do not have the authority to:

• control opening hours of TAB or pokie venues
• close down an existing gambling venue
• be involved in decisions about what happens to the money pokie venues make from gambling, such as who receives grants from gaming machine societies
• regulate casinos, internet gambling or Lotto outlets.

Our policies

TAB Venue Policy

• Any new TAB venue requires our approval.
• A maximum of 43 TAB venues are allowed in Auckland. This means TAB NZ can move its venues within Auckland but can have no more than 43 venues at any one time.
• If an existing venue closes, a new TAB cannot open or move to within 50m of a:
• place of worship
• school
• early childhood education facility
• marae.

We do not have the authority to manage TAB facilities in pubs, clubs or on self-service TAB machines.

Get a copy of the TAB Venue Policy

Class 4 Gambling (pokie machines) Venue Policy

Sinking lid policy

We have a 'sinking lid' policy for TAB venues and venues with pokie machines across Auckland. This means that when an existing Class 4 venue closes, we do not give consent for another to open. 

This also means that:

• a venue cannot increase its number of pokie machines
• if a venue reduces the number of its machines, it cannot replace them later.

Over time, this will reduce the number of gambling venues and machines in Auckland.

The policy also means that existing Class 4 venues cannot relocate from one part of the city to another.

Merging venues

Sometimes two pokie venues will merge into one venue. Class 4 venues can only merge if they are club venues. This means that the venue must be operated by a recognised club and is only available to club members and their guests.

A merged venue must have fewer gaming machines than the total combined number of machines each venue had before merging.

Get a copy of the Class 4 Gambling (Pokie) Venue Policy

Other ways we regulate gambling venues in Auckland

Reviews of our gambling venue policies

We regularly review our gambling venue policies to ensure they are still effective. We completed reviews in:

• June 2017 (first review)
• October 2020 (second review)
• March 2024 (third review).

After each of these reviews, the Regulatory and Community Safety Committee agreed to keep the existing policies with no changes.

Get a copy of the Review of Gambling Venue Policies - findings report

Recommendations to government

We submitted four recommendations to the government between 2012 and 2016:

Submission to the parliamentary Commerce Committee

In 2012 we submitted recommendations to the Commerce Committee on the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill.

We proposed that local authorities should have more powers to regulate pokie venues in their districts to help reduce problem gambling.

Formal feedback to the Department of Internal Affairs in 2013

In 2013 we gave formal feedback on a public consultation about four Class 4 gambling proposals.

In our feedback we raised issues about how money from pokie grants is given out. We showed that grant money is not always returned to the communities from where it was generated.

Visit Gambling Consultation Archive on the Department of Internal Affairs website to read the public consultation on four Class 4 gambling proposals.

Formal feedback to the Department of Internal Affairs in 2016

In 2016 we gave formal feedback on another Department of Internal Affairs public consultation on the Discussion Document: Review of Class 4 gambling.

We again raised issues about pokie grants money and recommended that a percentage of the grants money should be returned to the community from where it was generated.

We also recommended stricter enforcement, like fines and prosecution for non-compliance with gambling laws, to help minimise the impact of problem gambling.

Submission to the parliamentary Governance and Administration Committee 

In 2016 we submitted a recommendation to the Governance and Administration Committee on the Gambling Amendment Bill (No 3).

To protect the purpose of the Gambling Act to minimise problem gambling, we recommended against the introduction of new venue payment systems that could:

• make more money for venue operators
• make it easier for customers to gamble.

We requested an amendment to make it clear that any new payment system must not give venue operators an incentive to maximise gaming machines earnings.

Get a copy of the submissions

​Research on gambling