Information for advertisers
The Online Casino Gambling Act (the Act) came into force on 1 May 2026. If you are an advertiser (including social media influencers and content creators) or operate a platform that allows third parties to advertise, then there are some important things you need to be aware of.
Advertising prohibition is now in effect
Online casino gambling advertising has always been prohibited under the Gambling Act 2003, however the new Online Casino Gambling Act gives us, as the regulator, new enforcement powers. These include the ability to issue takedown notices and increased pecuniary penalties of up to $5 million (NZD) for unlawful advertising.
These takedown notices and increased penalties can be issued to anyone who publishes an unlawful advertisement or arranges to publish an unlawful advertisement on behalf of an online casino gambling provider.
Licensed operators will be allowed to advertise
After the three-stage licensing process is complete in early 2027, there will be up to 15 licensed operators who will be allowed to advertise to people located in New Zealand with restrictions.
We will be required by the Act to maintain a register of licensed operators so that they can easily be identified.
Initial regulatory decisions confirmed by Cabinet were pro-actively released by the Minister for Internal Affairs in late 2025. An example of these initial advertising decisions include prohibiting affiliate marketing and paid endorsements.
A full list of these initial decisions can be found in: Cabinet paper and associated materials relating to the Online Casino Gambling Bill 2025: Policy approval for regulations. (PDF, 6.9MB)
More detailed regulations which cover advertising are expected to be published in the coming months.
How you can help us regulate
We have been engaging with social media, technology and media providers who allow third parties to publish advertisements on their platforms. Our intention is to work collaboratively with advertisers to ensure that processes are in place to efficiently remove unlawful content.
To stay informed, or to ask the Online Casino Gambling Implementation (OGI) team a question, visit:
Register your interest (Office Forms)
Ask us a question (Office Forms)
