The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs : Services : Casino and Non-Casino Gaming : Housie, Lotteries, Games of Chance, Prize Competitions and Instant Games (Class 1, 2 and 3 Gambling)


Home Careers	Services About us	What's new Legal	Forms Resources

Gambling

Gambling Act 2003

Classes of Gambling

The Rules for Running a Gambling Activity

Casinos

Gambling in Pubs and Clubs (Class 4)

Problem Gambling

Info for Territorial Authorities

Funding For Community Groups

Gaming Statistics

Compliance Investigations and Audits

Infringement Notices

Gambling Technical Equipment

Prohibited Gambling

Electronic Monitoring System (EMS)

Forms

Fact Sheets (Gambling Act 2003)

How to Contact Us

News, Press Releases & Consultation

The Rules for Running a Gambling Activity

There are a number of gambling activities that societies (and in limited circumstances individuals) can run. These include: Housie, lotteries (i.e. raffles, sweepstakes) games of chance, prize competitions (including calcuttas) and instant games.

If you want to run one of these games you need to follow the relevant game rules for the type of activity. You will not need a licence from the Department of Internal Affairs unless the total value of the prizes and/or the turnover exceeds certain limits.

To find out more follow the link of the game you wish to run.

Housie (also known as Bingo)

Lotteries (e.g. raffles and sweepstakes)

Games of chance (e.g. gaming session, filly stakes and parlour derby)

Prize competitions (e.g. tagged fishing competitions, sporting competitions where some or all of the entrants go into a draw, rugby tipping-type competitions, and calcuttas)

Instant games (e.g. scratch and win games run by schools and mystery envelopes)

Housie (also known as Bingo)
Societies can run housie games. Other groups and individuals can run housie in very limited circumstances.

You do not require a licence if:

total value of prizes for a session is $5,000 or less, and
turnover of the gambling is $25,000 or less.

These may be run as either class 1 gambling or class 2 gambling.

If the total value of prizes for a session of Housie games is more than $5000 your group must be a corporate society and it will require a licence. Find out how to obtain a licence. Housie prizes are cash.

All operators of Housie must comply with the Housie game rules .pdf (129k)*. For more information check out our Housie Fact Sheet .pdf (60k)*.

See also the rules around what gambling proceeds can be used for.

Lotteries (e.g. raffles and sweepstakes)
You do not require a licence if:

total value of prizes for a session is $5,000 or less, and
turnover of the gambling is $25,000 or less.

These may be run as either class 1 gambling or class 2 gambling.

If the total value of prizes is more than $5000 your group must be a society and it will require a licence. Find out how to obtain a licence.

You will need to comply with the lottery game rules .pdf (103k)*.

See also the list of prizes which are prohibited and rules around what gambling proceeds can be used for.

Games of chance (e.g. gaming session, filly stakes and parlour derby)
You do not require a licence if:

total value of prizes for a session is $5,000 or less, and
turnover of the gambling is $25,000 or less.

These may be run as either class 1 gambling or class 2 gambling.

If the total value of prizes is more than $5000 you will require a licence. Find out how to obtain a licence obtain a licence.

You will need to comply with the games of chance game rules .pdf (99k)*.

See also the list of prizes which are prohibited and rules around what gambling proceeds can be used for.

Prize competitions (e.g. tagged fishing competitions, sporting competitions where some or all of the entrants go into a draw, rugby tipping-type competitions, and calcuttas)
A prize competition is gambling which has an element of chance but also requires participants to exercise some knowledge or skill.

You do not require a licence if:

total value of prizes is $5,000 or less, and
turnover of the gambling is $25,000 or less.

These may be run as either class 1 gambling or class 2 gambling.

If the total value of all prizes is more than $5000 you will require a licence. Find out how to obtain a licence.

You will need to comply with the prize competition game rules .pdf (104k)* - see Game Rule 10 for information about running calcuttas.

See also the list of prizes which are prohibited and rules around what gambling proceeds can be used for.

A competition involving skill may not be subject to the Gambling Act requirements if there is no gambling involved. For example, a “fun run” will not require a licence if there are no spot prizes offered or any other prizes awarded by “chance” (eg a draw).

Instant games (e.g. scratch and win games run by schools and mystery envelopes)
You do not require a licence if:

total value of prizes is $5,000 or less
turnover of the gambling is $25,000 or less.

These may be run as either class 1 gambling or class 2 gambling.

If the total value of prizes is more than $5000 you will require a licence. Find out how to obtain a licence

You will need to comply with the instant games game rules .pdf (98k)*.

See also the list of prizes which are prohibited and rules around what gambling proceeds can be used for.

What can gambling proceeds be used for?
Money obtained from gambling must benefit the community, as determined by the Gambling Act 2003.

NO commission can be offered or paid to, or received by, a person for conducting gambling, except if a licensed promoter is employed. Licensed promoters can be employed only by a society holding a licence to conduct class 3 gambling

NO remuneration is to be offered or paid to, or received by, a person for conducting gambling, except a caller of housie or an authorised representative of the society conducting the gambling.

With the exception of class 1 gambling turnover and/or total prizes for class 1 gambling are each $500 or less, and the gambling is conducted by individuals (for example, an office sweepstake or a school raffle), net proceeds from gambling must be applied or distributed to authorised purposes.

Authorised purposes must be non-commercial. They must also be charitable or of benefit to the community.

Proceeds from Class 1, 2 and 3 gambling (lotteries, housie, instant games etc) can be also used for electioneering purposes. For more information see our Authorised Purpose Guidelines.

Prohibited Prizes
It is illegal to offer the following as prizes:

A firearm, explosive (including ammunition), restricted weapon, or airgun
Liquor
Tobacco products
A taonga tuturu**
Vouchers or entitlements to commercial sexual services
Vouchers or entitlements to any of the other property listed above.

Second-hand goods and non-residential land can be offered as prizes. Game rules require that the nature of gambling prizes must be fully disclosed.

** Taonga tuturu means an object more than 50 years old that relates to Maori culture, history or society, and was manufactured, modified, used, or brought into New Zealand by Mäori.

Obtain a Licence
Where the prizes for any of the above games (excluding housie) exceeds $5,000 the gambling activity must be conducted by a society and the relevant forms filled in to obtain a licence. These should be sent, with the applicable fee, to the Department of Internal Affairs.

A housie licence can be granted only to a corporate society.

New Licence Application Form .pdf (315k)* GC11
To apply for a licence for the first time.

Amend Licence Application Form .pdf (227k)* GC12
For changes to an existing licence.

Personal Information Form .pdf (284k)* GC5
To be filled in by key persons of a society, the organiser and all officers of the society.

Note: With the exception of housie, a class 3 gambling licence is a ‘one-off’ issued for the duration of that specific activity (lottery, gaming session, etc). Each subsequent activity requires a separate licence application.

A housie licence is valid for one year, and must be renewed each year. If it is not renewed, it expires at the end of the 12-month period for which it was issued.

Renew Housie Operator's Licence .pdf (242k)* GC14
Note this is for housie only.

*This document is in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. You need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download a free version from the Adobe site.


	Site map	Search	Help	Contact us	Email us	newzealand.govt.nz


Last updated: 08/09/2009