Community-minded. Solution-focused.
Safer Gaming NZ looks after venue operators, grant recipients, and gaming machine players.
A well-controlled and monitored environment is the best place for people to gamble safely. Discouraging and stigmatising New Zealanders who enjoy playing gaming machines will push some into riskier alternatives.
Download ‘Gambling in New Zealand’ report
This report was written so readers can better understand how gambling impacts New Zealand and its people.
Most research focuses only on the negative effects of problem gambling and the harm cost to society. However, it’s important to also think about how prevalent problem gambling actually is, as well as the entertainment and community good benefit from gambling in New Zealand.
New Zealand is one of the most tightly regulated gambling policy environments in the world. Safer Gaming NZ, and the Gaming Machine Association, are in full support of the Government’s aims to reduce gambling harm to zero. However, we support effective, community-minded solutions which do not accidentally create more harm.
Out of all people in New Zealand:
68 percent gamble in some form
30 percent do not gamble at all
4.6 percent people are low-risk gamblers
1.8 percent are moderate risk gamblers
0.2 percent are problem gamblers (about 8,000 people).
