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Safety policy

Responsible Gambling Policy

The site treats gambling as paid entertainment with a risk of financial harm. Safety information takes priority over conversion and contains no commercial placements.

Published 1 October 2026 · Reviewed 1 October 2026 · Queenstown Gaming Guide editorial team

Editorial evidence flowing through review to publication
Original editorial-process illustration.

Content boundaries

We do not present gambling as income, recovery from debt, a solution to stress or a guaranteed social experience. We avoid urgency, loss-chasing language and claims that a system changes random outcomes.

Age and activity

For casino gambling and presence in a casino gambling area, the published threshold is 20+. Other gambling activities can have different rules, so the casino threshold is not generalised across every product.

Help-page protection

Gambling Help and responsible-gambling pages do not render Top 3, bonus or partner-link components. They prioritise free confidential support, breaks, exclusion and immediate exit options.

Publication checklist

  • 20+ wording scoped to casino gambling
  • No partner CTA on help pages
  • Helpline details rechecked
  • No winning or income claims
  • Limits described before play
  • Urgent support easy to find
Need immediate gambling support?

Call the New Zealand Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 or text 8006.

How this policy changes publication decisions

This policy is an operational control, not a reputation statement. Every material claim needs an owner, a source that can support the exact wording, a verification date and a clear response when the evidence changes. Search snippets, copied affiliate tables and anonymous reviews cannot satisfy that standard.

  • Keep primary evidence beside the claim it supports.
  • Mark unresolved legal or factual points before publication.
  • Correct the page, changelog and dependent pages together.

Independence also means disclosing the commercial model. Sponsored links may earn the guide a commission; they are labelled, and commercial considerations do not override legal, safety or factual gates.

How to use this information

Start with the decision you need to make, then distinguish a stable fact from a live condition. An address or statutory rule may remain stable for years; a timetable, entrance condition, machine configuration or promotional term may change without notice. Follow the primary-source link closest to the claim and check that it describes the same venue, service, product and date.

Keep a simple record of what you checked and when. Do not fill an evidence gap with a directory excerpt, an old screenshot or another publisher’s confidence. Where two official sources differ, use the more specific and current source, describe the conflict, and ask the responsible organisation before relying on it.

Evidence rule: use the linked official source for the live fact, then record the date checked. If the source is unavailable or ambiguous, keep the claim unpublished and list it in Sources and updates.