Frequently asked questions

NZCT raises charitable funds through responsible gaming (pokies) partnerships with hospitality venues. We award grants  for a wide range of community good including sport, arts and culture, youth development, health support organisations and rescue services.

We generally distribute funds back into the area where they were raised. But we also fund some regional and national organisations.

If there are NZCT gaming rooms in your community, then we are likely to have funds available for distribution. If there are none in your area, it is unlikely that we support your application. A map of venues in your area (and which society runs them) can be found at granted.govt.nz.

Applicants should be legal entities and have a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) in their own right, e.g. registered under the Charitable Trust Act; Incorporated Societies Act; or, in some circumstances, not-for-profit organisations registered under the Companies Act. Registration under the Charities Act is optional but does not confirm incorporation status.

Generally, NZCT prefers to consider support for organisations that have been legally constituted for at least one complete financial year.

If you need help submitting an online application, call NZCT’s Grants Team on 0800 44 69 28 between 8am and 5pm on weekdays and we’ll be able to provide guidance.

A professional fundraiser may be used by your organisation, but they must be paid a flat fee or hourly rate which is paid irrespective of the outcome of your grant application. If you have another remuneration arrangement with your fundraiser, you must disclose this to us. You must not use any portion of grant funding received to pay a commission or success fee to the fundraiser. All (100%) of any grant you receive must be used for the purpose authorised by NZCT. 

All NZCT grant purposes comply with the Gambling Act 2003, Gambling (Class 4 Net Proceeds) Regulations 2004 and NZCT's licence conditions. NZCT funds a wide range of operational and capital costs including:

•         Uniforms

•         Equipment (both purchase and hire of)

•         Domestic travel and accommodation

•         Employment costs (salaries and contractors)

•         Event costs

•         Facility costs including new buildings and other                          infrastructure, renovations, and repairs & maintenance.

We generally do not fund:

•         Overheads  such as rent, insurance and power bills 

•         Non-playing uniforms.

We never fund:

•       Retrospective costs. All requests must relate to future              spending and not for expenditure already incurred, i.e.            you must confirm your grant application has been                   approved before spending any funds, otherwise under            law you must refund the grant

•      Grants will not be made to individuals, to closed groups         where membership is discretionary or for private (rather          than public) purposes

• Fundraisers

• Activities that support political candidates or parties

• Rifles, handguns, and associated clip-on accessories.

Other things to note:

• Funds must be spent specifically for the purpose(s) approved by NZCT. These purposes must be of direct and immediate benefit to your organisation

• Ideally, grant applications should be made for activities or buying items that would not be possible without additional grant funding

• We will generally be more inclined to fund 'must haves' rather than 'nice to haves'

• The Gambling Act prohibits the people who work at, or have a significant interest in, one of our gaming venues from being involved in an NZCT grant application. NZCT will automatically declines all grant applications that have been found to have a possible substantive conflict between an NZCT venue(s) and applicant.

The Gambling Act 2003 requires us to annually review the criteria, methods, systems and policies we use for distributing our net proceeds. 

To find out more about our criteria for specific grant purposes, visit the grants criteria page.

NZCT considers applications throughout the year.

There are no deadlines, but you should submit your application at least 10 weeks before you need to use any resulting funds, as we can’t reimburse you for money you’ve already spent.

Your application will be checked by an NZCT for completeness and to ensure it complies with regulatory requirements, NZCT’s licence conditions, and grants criteria. We will contact you if any further information is required.

Once your application is ready, and if appropriate, it will be forwarded to one of NZCT’s Regional Advisory Committees for comment. All applications are eventually presented to one of two NZCT Net Proceeds Committees for a final decision. We will email you with the outcome of your application typically within 3-4 days of a meeting. You can monitor your application’s progress in our Fluxx Grants Portal.

NZCT has two Net Proceed Committees (NPCs). Generally, NPC1 makes grant decisions on larger applications and meets monthly. NPC1 consists of NZCT trustees. NPC2 only considers smaller applications and consists of NZCT senior managers, who are key persons. NPC2 typically meets fortnightly.

Approved grants will be paid by direct credit to your organisation’s nominated bank account.

Under law, your organisation must only spend the grant you receive on the ‘authorised purpose(s)’ NZCT details in the grant confirmation letter you receive.

NZCT may consider a written request from your organisation to use the grant for a different purpose, but these written requests are only very rarely approved. 

If you cannot use the grant (or the full grant) on the purpose(s) we have authorised, you must refund the difference.

You can do this by depositing the excess funds into our bank account or by sending a cheque to NZCT, PO Box 10857, Wellington 6143. If you need our bank account details, call us on 0800 44 69 28, option 3.

Under law you cannot use NZCT funds for retrospective purposes. This means you must not use a NZCT grant to reimburse someone or balance off goods or services that have already been paid for prior to the date NZCT approved the grant (this includes deposits). You must wait until your grant application has been approved before spending the grant.  If you have used the grant for retrospective purposes you must refund the applicable amount from your reserves.

Yes, unless there is a good reason why this was not possible. If you would like to use a different supplier, seek our approval by sending us a new quote and a message explaining the change before you spend any of your grant funds. 

If we are funding a role and the person in that role changes also provide updated documents for our records.

Yes. you have a legal obligation to prove the grant has been used for the purpose(s) for which the funds were granted. You will need to provide copies of appropriate documents that show us how and when their grant money was spent.

Please reconcile your accountability documentation before you send it to us. If there is a difference between the amount charged and the amount paid, you’ll need to provide an explanation and supporting documents.

You must return any unspent funds. Failure to do so may result in NZCT referring your organisation to the DIA for investigation and your organisation may not be able to apply and receive NZCT funds in the future. You personally may also be stopped from making applications to any other organisation.

Take care not to account for your NZCT grant by providing accountability evidence that relates to the expenditure of another organisation’s grant. This illegal practise is called ‘double-dipping and is strictly forbidden. An example of this is providing an invoice and bank statement showing you paid for some uniforms, but your organisation actually spend another organisation’s grant money to make the purchase.

All grant money must be spent by cheque, credit card or electronic transfer through your organisation’s bank account. We can’t accept receipts for cash payments. 

Tax invoices and bank statements are appropriate accountability documents.

Quotes, receipts, pro forma invoices, ledger reports and Excel spreadsheets are not. 

When accounting for your grant, the following documentation is required. 

• For goods or services we need to see tax invoices and bank statements showing all or full payment(s) of the invoice you are claiming.

• For salaries, we fund the gross amount as per the employment agreement submitted with your application. You need to send us a signed declaration form (linked below) confirming that the funds were spent only on the purpose(s) that NZCT authorised. You should also keep to hand other documentation that confirms the salary spending in case we  request it. This includes an IRD Schedule (IR345 and IR348), and a bank statement showing all wages paid each month and the PAYE paid. If the wages are paid in a bulk amount, we may require copies of the batch list making up the bulk amount, so we can see the funded employee’s payment.

Download the declaration that salary grant funds have been used only for the authorised purpose

For a grant or cumulative grants of $100,000 or more in NZCT’s financial year, we require confirmation from an independent external auditor (a chartered accountant with a certificate of public practice) that  the funds you received were used only on the authorised purpose(s) approved and that any amount unspent has been returned to NZCT.

Generally, yes. However, you must let us know about this change so we can approve it. Just send us written confirmation of the change of employee and a copy of the new signed employment agreement and we’ll confirm the change is okay from our end. You’ll need to supply details, such when the original employee finished and when the new one started in the role.

A copy of the relevant contractor(s)’ invoices. If the contractor or supplier is GST registered (which they must be if their annual turnover exceeds $60,000), we expect these invoices will contain, at a minimum:

• the words ‘tax invoice’ in a prominent place

• the name, address, phone number and GST number of the supplier (the contractor)

• the name and address of the customer (the grant recipient)

• the date of issue

• a description of the goods and services and their volume (e.g. hours of labour, number of items), and the start and finish dates, if applicable

• the GST-exclusive price, the amount of GST charged and the GST-inclusive price.

If the contractor or supplier isn’t GST registered, we need equivalent documentation as above, except including the word 'invoice' instead of 'tax invoice' and stating the non-GST price.

A supplier who is not registered for GST mustn’t charge GST. 

When a school receives funding from NZCT and they use an outside provider to pay their accounts (e.g. Education Services), we need copies of their bank statements showing they have on-paid the funds to the supplier.

If your organisation is GST registered, you can claim the GST-exclusive amount of the invoice. If your organisation is not GST registered, you should claim the GST-inclusive amount of the invoice.

Complaints about the grants process or a particular application must be made in writing. They should be addressed to the Chief Executive, NZCT, PO Box 10857, The Terrace, Wellington 6143 or by emailing complaints@nzct.org.nz.

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days and generally respond to your complaint within 20 working days.

We love hearing about the outcomes achieved as a result of our funding. If you would like to acknowledge our help, visit the How to say thanks for our support page of our website.

‘Pokie-playing’ is a valid, legal and enjoyable source of entertainment as long as the games are played responsibly. Most pokie players, like Lotto players, do so to be entertained and to ‘have a little thrill’. The majority of players know when to stop. In research undertaken in 2011, BERL noted that pokie expenditure is directly related to disposable income. 

The problem gambling rate in New Zealand is 0.5% of the adult population, according to the National Gambling Survey, one of the lowest in the world.

Does removing gaming machines reduce the problem gambling rate?

No. Since the Gambling Act came into force in 2003, more than 11,000 gaming machines have been removed from New Zealand communities, but the problem gambling rate has remained  static at less than 1% (Currently 0.5% - and that’s for all forms of gambling not just pokies) . This is among the lowest problem gambling rates in the world.

The class 4 (pokies) sector will contribute 49% of the cost of implementing the $81 million cost of Ministry of Health’s 2025/26-2027/28 Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm Strategic Plan by way of a problem gambling levy. These funds pay for the implementation of public health services, intervention services, research, evaluation and workforce development. NZCT’s share of the levy is around $1.4 million a year.

Council’s must have a Class 4 policy that determines the number of machines that are permissible in their community and how these machines can be relocated (if at all). Many councils have adopted sinking lid policies and limit the ability for machines to relocate in the belief that reducing the number of machines will reduce the rate of problem gambling.

However, Ministry of Health and DIA data proves that restrictive policies do not reduce harm. What does decrease from such policies is the level of funds being generated for investment into community good from Class 4. There is no obvious alternative source of funding to replace the community funding that is lost from the adoption of restrictive Class 4 policies. NZCT encourages councils to adopt a balanced policy that ensures the Class 4 fundraising model remains controlled and sustainable.

Seventy-five percent of Auckland groups surveyed in 2012 indicated their organisation is moderately or totally reliant on gaming funding to support their core business. Fifty-five percent said there would be a high to extreme risk to their organisation and their core business if they did not receive this funding. There is no evidence that this situation has changed since then.

Grassroots community organisations are struggling with few alternative sources for funding available to replace diminishing Class 4 funding.

Yes, NZCT has developed a policy for each of our venues to assist venue staff to identify potential problem gamblers, take steps to prevent them from becoming actual problem gamblers, and to stop problem gamblers from participating in gambling at NZCT venues.

Any action taken by venue staff is required to be documented, using paper-based or electronic resources that NZCT provides for this purpose. Venue operators are required to keep these records for at least three years.

If you or someone close to you has a gambling problem, we encourage you to seek professional help. Several problem gambling organisations provide free help for those in need.  For a comprehensive list of providers see https://www.safergambling.org.nz/help-and-support/services-near-you#local-services

Self-exclusion

A self-excluding process is available whereby a person can voluntarily remove the temptation to continue gambling by breaking the gambling cycle. It can also help the rehabilitation process for problem gamblers undergoing treatment.

If you believe you might have a gambling problem, you can talk directly to our trained venue staff about being excluded from that venue. If you ask to be excluded from the venue, the venue is obliged to issue you with an exclusion order. The orders are venue-specific, so if you want to ban yourself from more than one venue, you can request a Multi Venue Exclusion by contacting a trained councillor – for further information go to: https://multivenueexclusion.org.nz/mve-process/

Once an exclusion order is issued you will be legally excluded from the gaming area for the term of the order, which is up to two years.

You need to supply a clear photograph of yourself or consent to having one taken to help venue staff identify you if you attempt to re-enter the premises in breach of the exclusion order. Once issued a copy of the order and an explanation of the terms will be provided/sent to you.  If you breach the order, you are liable for a $500 fine.

Venue-initiated exclusion (without consent)

A venue may initiate an exclusion order without your consent if venue staff have reasonable grounds to believe you are a problem gambler, provided they have first approached you and offered information or advice about problem gambling. If possible, you will be provided with a copy, and the same conditions and penalties apply as if you had requested the exclusion yourself.

Our venues are private property.  As such, at any time, venue staff may ask any patron to leave the premises, or deny them access, and no reason needs to be given for this.

A complex range of regulatory requirements are in place to support Parliament's objective to prevent and minimise the harm that can be caused by excessive use of pokie machines. Harm prevention and minimisation measures that gaming societies, their venue managers and venue staff are required to meet include:

• limiting stakes and prize money

• displaying odds of winning

• restricting gaming rooms to people over the age of 18 years

• interrupting play every 30 minutes with an automated update on how long the player has been at the machine, how much money they’ve spent and their net wins and losses

• not accepting $50 and $100 notes

• not allowing ATMs in defined gambling areas

• prohibiting pokie advertising

• electronic monitoring of every gaming machine’s takings

• prohibiting syndicated play.

All venues must:

• have staff trained in gambling harm prevention and minimisation on duty at all times gaming machines are operating

• have a gambling harm prevention and minimisation policy in place

• display pamphlets and signs directing gamblers to help services

• have staff who understand how to issue and enforce exclusion orders

• have staff who can help problem gamblers if they have an ongoing concern about them.

As a corporate society licensed to conduct class 4 gambling, NZCT is fully aware of its obligations under the Gambling Act 2003 to prevent and minimise the harm caused by gambling, including problem gambling. NZCT takes these obligations very seriously.

To prevent and reduce the harm caused by excessive gambling, NZCT:

• pays a problem gambling levy to the Ministry of Health of around $1.4 million a year - these funds contribute towards the ministry's Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm Strategic Plan, which includes public health services (for example, the Health Promotion Agency advertising campaigns), intervention services, research, evaluation and workforce development

• gives all our gaming venues a comprehensive harm minimisation pack that includes our harm prevention and minimisation policy and manual, exclusion orders, a pad of gambling host responsibility record sheets, and other resources

• supplies all our venues with the Health Promotion Agency's resources (posters, wallet cards, prompt cards, etc.)

• trains all gaming venue staff (around 500 every year) to recognise and help problem gamblers

• employs technology to support its harm prevention and minimisation strategy, for example, online training of venue staff and facial recognition in some venues.

NZCT was formed in January 1998, and always been one of New Zealand's largest gaming trusts.

We raise funds through gaming machine (pokie) partnerships with hospitality venues. We are immensely grateful for the efforts of these venues in helping NZCT to raise and distribute c.$1b of community funding across our lifetime.

NZCT has offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and staff operate throughout New Zealand.

During our 2024/25 financial year, NZCT generated $36.334 million for the benefit of Kiwi communities and distributed $38.244 million through 1,992 grants.

We invest in organisations that make communities happier, healthier and more connected.

We operate a year-round contestable application process.  Applications are made via our online grants portal.

Our operator's licence permits NZCT to conduct gambling by way of gaming machines for the sole objective of distributing the net proceeds from gambling to the following authorised purposes:

• Any charitable, philanthropic to the extent it is charitable, cultural, amateur sport or any other purpose that is beneficial to the community or any section of it. This includes, but is not limited to:

• the provision, or assistance in the provision, of facilities, equipment, and/or playing/training uniforms for sporting clubs and amateur sporting teams playing in recognised, published leagues or competitions, and/ or;

• grants for charitable purposes including the relief of poverty or welfare assistance through donations to recognised social service or welfare agencies, and/or;

• grants to educational or training organisations through the provision of scholarships or equipment which is administered by the recipient educational organisation, and/or;

• grants for recognised cultural or philanthropic to the extent it is charitable activities and groups within the local community.

• authorised purposes as defined under the Gambling Act 2003.

Our privacy statement is here

In 2006, NZCT was the first charitable gaming society in Australasia to become accredited with the international quality standard, AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008, and we are committed to retaining this certification.