New Zealand amends requirements at pokies venues to minimize harm

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New Zealand government announces new changes to requirements at the pokie venues in order to reduce the harm to players. The new changes will come in effect stating Thursday, June 15.

Internal Affairs Minister, Barbara Edmonds on the matter said, “Pokies are one of the most harmful forms of gambling. They can have a detrimental impact on individuals, their friends, whanau (families) and communities,” according to UNI.

In order to give the industry ample time to adopt essential layout regulations and train employees, changes that apply to pubs, clubs, and TAB NZ venues will be phased in over the course of the next six months, according to Edmonds.

According to the latest changes, in order to minimize the harm, three more acts will be recognized as offences and are coming into force for proper enforcement of regulation in branding and advertising requirements.

Problem gambling is another form of gambling addiction in the country. In order to counter that, new guidelines for awareness training are laid down, these include a workshop on how to communicate with gamblers, recognize signs of harm, and advise gamblers of their options for getting assistance. This is currently scheduled to start from September 1.

Starting December 1, further requirements are set to be in place including staff being able to monitor ATMs from the main bar or service area. Limit on pokies visibility from outside of venue, so they do not lure in problem gamblers, performing at least three sweeps in gambling area every hour to identify any signs of gambling harm.

Staff monitoring these activities must be trained, and the reports are required to be reviewed every week by the manager.

“Each year, pokies are the biggest driver of people seeking gambling-related help in New Zealand. It is clear that these changes need to be made to help venues better identify and minimize harm to players,” Edmonds said.

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