How much is lost?
New Zealanders lose around $2 billion on gambling each year. Half of this, around $1 billion, is lost on pokie machines each year.
Between 1999 and 2003 the amount of money we lost on average on each pokie machine increased by more than 43% (from $26,064 per gaming machine to $37,310).
Where does the money go?
The Gambling Act 2003 states that pokie machine gambling is illegal unless it's run for the purpose of generating money for community grants. However, only around one-third of the money lost is given away in grants. These are often given to sports groups, racing or community organisations. The Department of Internal Affairs provides information about these grants.
Visit the Grants page on the Department of Internal Affair's website.
Problem Gambling Levy
A small amount of money is taken by the government from the profits from the main forms of gambling to fund problem gambling services and efforts to prevent harm. This is referred to as the Problem Gambling Levy. The levy is at different rates, reflecting the amount of money lost and the level of associated harm.
- Pokie machines in pubs and clubs: 1.70% of operators' gross profits
- Racing including TAB and sports betting: 0.55%
- Casinos: 0.72%
- NZ Lotteries Commission: 0.20%
Note, all rates are shown as a percentage of the operators' gross profits and are exclusive of GST.