The Department of Internal Affairs

Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

Building a safe, prosperous and respected nation



Consultation planning

This page sets out the groups you need to engage with to meet mandatory consultation requirements under the Gambling Act. It also outlines other engagement options that may help you reach populations who experience disproportionate gambling harm.

On this page

Consultation obligations
Other engagement
When to consult
Engagement resources
Reference: Statutory consultation requirements under the Gambling Act

Consultation obligations

The class 4 gambling system balances benefits and harms to the community. Carefully planning the pre-consultation stage encourages community input into decisions about the provision of gambling in their district. This is one of the key purposes of the Gambling Act.

Councils have consultation obligations under the Gambling Act, in addition to those under the Local Government Act, when making changes to their class 4 venue policies.

Familiarise yourself with consultation requirements:

  • Section 102(1) of the Gambling Act sets out the consultation requirements under that Act.
  • Section 83 of the Local Government Act sets out the consultation requirements under that Act.
  • Section 97 of the Racing Industry Act 2020 sets out the consultation requirements under that Act.

Under the Gambling Act, there are statutory requirements to consult with:

  • gambling societies (the Class 4 sector)
  • organisations representing Māori.

These are set out below.

Reference: Statutory consultation requirements under the Gambling Act

Class 4 Sector engagement

You must give notice of the proposed policy to each corporate society that holds a class 4 venue licence for a venue in your district, under section 101(2)(a) of the Gambling Act.

The societies will be also able to provide information on the grants made in your communities.

List of society websites

Reference: Statutory consultation requirements under the Gambling Act

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Organisations representing Maori

You must consult with organisations representing Māori in your district, under section 102(1)(b) of the Act. This section requires councils to give notice of the proposed policy to organisations representing Māori.

Early engagement with iwi supports good outcomes and Māori community service provider arms of iwi can provide good insights of the impacts of gambling amongst whānau and hāpu.

Engagement with Māori is also mandated by the Local Government Act. Local Government New Zealand provides information about engagement with Māori and council to meet Local Government Act responsibilities to:

  • provide opportunities for Māori to contribute to the decision-making processes of councils,
  • maintain processes to contribute to decision-making,
  • foster the development of Māori capacity to contribute to decision-making processes and
  • provide relevant information to Māori.

Council Maori engagement (LGNZ)

Engagement resources

Reference: Statutory consultation requirements under the Gambling Act

Note that under section 102(3) of the Gambling Act, the obligation to consult with organisations representing Maori does not affect the ability of a council to give notice of the proposed policy to any other population group.

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Other engagement

Pacific Peoples and other communities

You may wish to engage Pacifika and other communities, who experience disproportionate harm from gambling according to Ministry of Health research.

Engagement resources

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Providers of problem gambling services

You may also engage with the providers of problem gambling services in your area. These service providers will have information about gambling harms in your local communities, and information about access to and use of problem gambling treatment services, which can contribute to your assessment of the social impact of gambling.

There are a range of providers in New Zealand: local to your area, national and specialist for vulnerable populations including Māori, Pacific and Asian service providers.

Find providers, information about gambling harm intervention and related public health services:

Venues

You may also wish to consult with venues (pubs and clubs) in your area.

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When to consult

Consultation happens at various stages of the process of reviewing a venue policy:

  • Some consultation activities may inform your evaluation of your current policy.
  • More formal consultation must occur if you are making changes to your policy.

More information about when to consult can be found on the policy review process page

Engagement resources

Engaging with Māori, Pacific Peoples, and other community groups

Reference: Statutory consultation requirements under the Gambling Act

Section 101 Territorial authority must adopt class 4 venue policy

(1) A policy on class 4 venues under section 101 must be adopted in accordance with the special consultative procedure in section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002 and, for the purpose of subsection (1)(e) of that section, the territorial authority must give notice of the proposed policy, in a manner that the territorial authority considers appropriate, to—
(a) each corporate society that holds a class 4 venue licence for a venue in the territorial authority district; and
(b) organisations representing Māori in the territorial authority district.

(2) A policy may be amended or replaced only in accordance with the special consultative procedure, and this section applies to that amendment or replacement.

(3) Subsection (1) (b) does not affect the ability of a territorial authority to take similar action in respect of any other population group.

Note: All councils already have their class 4 venue policy in place. If when reviewing its policy, a council decides it is appropriate to roll over its current policy, it is not mandatory for the council to undertake the special consultative procedure referred to in section 101(1) above.

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