This Government bill amends the Gambling Act 2003 to make permanent the temporary exemption (in section 4A since 16 May 2020) of class 3 lottery gambling from the Act's prohibition on remote interactive gambling. Class 3 lotteries are run by licensed operators to raise money for charitable and non-commercial purposes; the exemption lets them sell tickets and take payments remotely, for example by phone or internet banking. The policy statement notes that advertising and financial transactions are now predominantly digital, and that without the exemption the fundraising ability of class 3 operators would be limited. It passed all three readings on the voices (first reading 12 September 2024, third reading 23 October 2024) and is now law.
This bill amends the Gambling Act 2003 to make permanent a temporary exemption that lets class 3 gambling in the form of a lottery be conducted remotely, outside the general prohibition on remote interactive gambling. In practice this allows those charitable lottery operators to take payments by phone or internet banking. The exemption originated as a temporary COVID-19 measure for specified charitable operators and this bill makes the arrangement ongoing.
Supporters argue that letting established charitable lotteries operate online is a sensible, low-risk modernisation that supports fundraising. Others may consider where the line sits between permitted charitable lotteries and the wider prohibition on remote gambling, and whether making the exemption permanent has any broader implications for gambling policy.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.