There are a number of things you can do:

• talk with them about what might work best
• show them this site
• use the free and confidential support services available to both of you.

Money management

You could try the following things:

• Set an amount to spend on gambling each week and withdraw only that amount for them
• Help them manage their money
• Look after their credit and eftpos cards
• Set up automatic payments for bills and give them only what they need for food and other essentials
• Contact the Gambling Debt Helpline on and arrange for the person to talk to a Financial counsellor.

Staying away from venues

It’s a good idea to help someone with a gambling problem to avoid going to the places where they might be tempted to gamble, or to only go to gambling venues with friends and family who are not gambling. If that is too tempting, you may like to help exclude the person from a venue or multiple venues.

Under New Zealand law, a venue can exclude a person with a gambling problem or someone can choose to exclude themselves from a venue or multiple venues. To do this, you need to identify the person to venue staff as having a gambling problem. The venue operator must then, by law, exclude them from the venue. If a person has been excluded from a venue, they, and the venue operator can be fined if they enter the gambling area.

Someone in your area can help support you with the exclusion process. Call the Gambling Helpline for further information.

Block computer access to gambling sites 

Software programmes like Safe Eyes, Secure Web, and GamBlock can be installed to block certain sites, restrict access times, and block whole categories of sites. There are also programmes that will monitor and report all activity from a computer.

Take part in other activities together

It can be helpful to substitute someone's gambling with other activities they enjoy. Think about the when and where they gamble and alternatives on offer. Social and or fun keeps their mind off it. See our keeping busy page.