• New Zealand has announced a massive funding scheme designed to protect consumers and help address gambling addiction
• Problem gambling becomes a focal point of health efforts in the country, as one in five New Zealanders will experience gambling-related harm in their lifetime
• New Zealand is focused on assessing measures and adjusting its approach to ensure the best and most impactful results

New Zealand has announced a major investment in addressing gambling addiction in the country, with the Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey, confirming that the government is investing as much as NZ$81m (around $50m) as part of its renewed Strategy to Prevent and Minimize Gambling Harm.

New Zealand vows millions to tackle problem gambling and addiction

This is one of the largest investments by a government dedicated to tackling the issues tied to problem gambling. Doocey said that announcing a strategy is not enough to make things better. Rather, an approach that tracks the effectiveness of what works and what doesn’t, is needed, Doocey added, and said that the government has committed to this strategy.

Doocey explained that the government wanted New Zealanders to feel the change, and that a strategic independent review covering 2025/26 has been launched to better understand what measures are effective and impactful, and what may be improved or phased out.

Part of the strategy involves hiring more trained specialists to offer problem gambling support. The minister argued that one of the biggest barriers to making sure people get better is not having enough people who can support at-risk and vulnerable consumers.

"That is why the plan includes ways we will grow the gambling harm workforce. We will be creating up to 18 additional clinical internship places," Doocey added.

The plan is two-pronged, as it will make access to treatment services more readily available while also assisting people who want to become qualified support professionals but have been struggling to get their registrations.

Casino Guru Head of Research, Matej Novota, also offered a comment on the ambitious funding program launched by the New Zealand government:

"Focusing on evidence-based strategies is vital for any country to address problem gambling and gambling addiction. New Zealand has accurately assessed that lived experiences and public consultations, paired with studying the effectiveness of consumer protection measures, are the right way forward. Making support more readily available and training more skilled workers is another essential part of this strategy. Yet, for all of it to work, New Zealand will sooner or later have to address the root cause - that the offshore gambling market continues to command a considerable market share, which will necessitate changes in regulation to make the homegrown market more appealing to consumers.

The government is trying to stay ahead of current trends, which suggest that one in five New Zealanders will suffer in their lifetime because of gambling addiction, either directly or indirectly through a family member. To stay ahead and help tackle this, the government wants to allocate resources where it matters.

Levying the sector to bankroll consumer protection

To fund all of this, the government has set up the Problem Gambling Levy Regulations, which will levy various stakeholders, including Lotto NZ, TAB NZ, casinos, and so on, in order to raise the funds needed to tackle outstanding issues related to problem gambling and gambling addiction.

The government also relied on a two-stage consultation process to ensure that the resources it allocates are spent in a meaningful and impactful way. Doocey said that policymakers were interested in the lived experiences of people who have suffered from gambling harm, and much of the current strategy has been tailored to address the known issues and their triggers.

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