Gambling Commission approves SkyCity Auckland casino temporary closure

Authorities have approved a temporary five-day closure of SkyCity Auckland’s gambling area.

New Zealand.- SkyCity Entertainment Group has announced that the Secretary for Internal Affairs has withdrawn a previous application to temporarily suspend SkyCity Auckland’s gambling area for ten days and has approved a request from the casino operator to close the venue for five days. SkyCity will coordinate with the secretary to finalise the dates, which will run consecutively on a Monday to Friday this year.

The agreement follows a complaint lodged in February 2022 by a former customer who gambled at the casino between August 2017 and February 2021. The complaint led to an application in September 2023 to suspend the licence for up to ten days.

Vicki Scott, director of gambling at the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), said: “Casinos and other gambling operators have strict obligations when it comes to preventing and minimising harm from gambling, including those relating to continuous and long hours of play.

“We have a responsibility to keep New Zealanders safe by ensuring gambling operators take their harm minimisation obligations seriously. We will respond firmly when operators fail to uphold those obligations. We are pleased that SkyCity has admitted to the breaches and acknowledged the gravity of their failures and the importance of its harm minimisation obligations.

“We will be working closely with SkyCity to make sure it is compliant in the future. It is encouraging to see the work SkyCity has already done to lift its performance in this area and its public commitment to continue to improve.”