SkyCity faces suspension of casino licence
Monday, 4 September 2023
SkyCity has told the NZX that it has been informed by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) an application is being made to suspend its casino operator’s licence for a period “in the range of 10 days”.
It affects SkyCity Casino Management’s licence for SkyCity’s Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown casinos.
The Gambling Commission will now consider whether to make an order to suspend the licence and, if so, how long for.
It follows a complaint by a former customer who gambled at the casino between August 2017 and February 2021.
“The secretary [for internal affairs] states in the application that [SkyCity] did not comply with requirements in its Sky City Auckland host responsibility programme relating to detection of incidences of continuous play by the customer,” SkyCity said.
It said it would fully cooperate with the application and the process.
“Given the application is before the commission it would be inappropriate for SkyCity to comment further on the application and allegations at this stage.'
In a statement, John Sneyd, general manager of regulatory services at the Department of Internal Affairs said it recently completed an investigation into SkyCity’s gambling harm minimisation practices.
“Due to the findings of this investigation, the secretary for internal affairs …believes SkyCity has breached important harm-minimisation obligations including conditions of its licence and conditions of its host responsibility programme relating to instances of long-play by its customers.”
Its host responsibility policies dictate that when someone has been gambling for five hours or more, continuously, staff should be alerted and the gambler then monitored.
He said both the Department of Internal Affairs and SkyCity would make submissions to the Gambling Commission.
It would then consider the case and determine what action was appropriate, if any.
“DIA takes gambling harm minimisation seriously and will take firm action when licensed operators do not abide by the conditions of their licences. DIA continues to conduct audits and monitor all New Zealand casinos to ensure they have the appropriate processes and fulfil their obligations and responsibilities.
“DIA has a responsibility to keep Aotearoa safe by ensuring gambling in New Zealand is run by trusted operators and that harm to gamblers is minimised, including problem gambling. As these matters are subject to an ongoing process, we cannot comment further on the application.”
Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Frounde said it was very important that staff were looking out for gamblers who had been playing for a long time. “There are people experiencing severe harm.”
The foundation had made submissions on SkyCity’s host obligations before, in which it wrote that anyone who gambled for more than three hours without a break was likely to have a higher risk of becoming a problem gambler.
SkyCity shares have dropped more than 20c since the announcement and are now trading at $2.10.