Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010–2016: Outcome of ConsultationDate of publication (online): October 2009
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Background
Changes to the integrated problem gambling strategy
Next steps
Related information
BackgroundOn 9 July 2009 the Ministry of Health released for public consultation its Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016: Consultation Document. The document contains the Ministry’s draft integrated problem gambling strategy and includes a draft six-year strategic plan 2010-2016, a draft three-year service plan 2010-2013, a problem gambling needs assessment, and proposed problem gambling levy calculations over the 2010-2013 period.
The Ministry consulted widely during the consultation period. General public consultation meetings were held in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin; Māori, Pacific, and Asian viewpoints meetings were held in Auckland; and two separate consultation meetings were held for the gambling industry and government agencies. The Ministry also convened a Māori Working Group, comprising two meetings, to discuss the Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016: Consultation Document.
At the close of the consultation period, on 21 August 2009, the Ministry received a total of 65 written submissions representing a range of groups and individuals. An external contractor, Quigley and Watts, has undertaken a thematic analysis of the submissions and produced a summary of submissions report (available for download in the box above). This report informed the Ministry’s changes to the draft integrated problem gambling strategy.
Changes to the integrated problem gambling strategyThe Ministry of Health is appreciative of the time taken by all submitters who responded to the Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016: Consultation Document.
The Ministry has revised the draft strategic plan, service plan and levy calculations in light of the consultation feedback. The Ministry has also taken into account new information received since the consultation document was produced (for example, updated service user data and gambling expenditure figures). The revised Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016 document is available for download in the box above.
The main changes to the strategic plan, service plan and levy calculation are:
- The addition of a new objective into the strategic plan: Objective 2: Māori families are supported to achieve their maximum health and wellbeing through minimising the negative impacts of gambling. This objective describes how the Ministry intends to progress, and measure, its goal of supporting Māori families to reduce the harm from gambling. While this objective aligns with Objective one: the reduction of health inequalities, and is supported by all other objectives and indicators in this document, the Ministry believed it was important to have specific objectives, actions and measures to maximise Māori health and wellbeing through minimising the negative impacts of gambling, recognising the Treaty of Waitangi obligations of the Crown.
- The Ministry has added an expanded Whānau Ora section in the six-year strategic plan. This includes diagrams, with accompanying narrative explanation, that demonstrate how the integrated problem gambling strategy links with He Korowai Oranga: The Māori Health Strategy and Whakatātaka Tuarua: Māori Health Action Plan 2006 – 2011. The high level aims of these approaches are consistent with the Ministry’s priority outcome, noted in the Ministry’s Statement of Intent: 2009-2012, for Māori families to be supported to achieve their maximum health and wellbeing.
- An expanded explanation of the Ministry’s commitment to the continued provision of dedicated Māori, Pacific, and Asian problem gambling services. Information on the principles underlying the objectives in the strategic plan has also been added. These principles are: ‘diversity’, ‘participation’, and ‘accessibility’.
- An additional proposal to split the non-casino gaming machine sector into two separate sectors, the club gaming machine operators and the pub gaming machine operators, for the purpose of calculating and collecting the 2013-2016 problem gambling levy, subject to a continued trend in the relevant data indicating that this split is justified. This would allow the Inland Revenue Department time to budget for and implement the required system changes.
The Ministry has also produced a supporting document, Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016: Ministry of Health’s Response to Issues Raised in the Submissions (available for download in the box above), which sets out in a table the key issues raised in the submissions and the Ministry’s response to each issue.
Once again, thank you to those who made submissions. We appreciate your participation in this process.
Next StepsThe Ministry has sent the revised Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016 document to the Gambling Commission for consideration.
The Gambling Commission is required to convene a meeting to consult on the service plan and the levy rates, and then make recommendations to the Ministers of Health and Internal Affairs on the total amount of the problem gambling levy for the three-year period and the levy rates for each gambling sector.
Cabinet will make the final decision on the service plan and levy calculation.
Related informationProblem gambling pages
Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2010-2016: A Draft Document for Consultation
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