Holiday Act Remediation

Our commitment to responsible business practices drives everything we do. We prioritise sustainability, fostering positive impacts while mitigating harm to people and the environment.

Our Host Responsibility Programme ensures safe gambling environments through mandatory carded play, enhanced facial recognition, staff training, and PatronScan implementation. Since 1996, SkyCity Community Trusts have supported more than 5,000 groups, funding community development initiatives. We proudly sponsor sports teams, local events, and charities, partnering with Leukaemia & Blood Cancer NZ, and Variety. 

Through these efforts, we strive to strengthen communities, support families, and provide safe, entertaining, and responsible experiences for all.

Part of being a responsible business is understanding the impacts arising from our operations. The aim of this understanding is to enable positive impacts to be fostered and negative impacts to be, at the very least, mitigated and ideally abated. This is particularly true when there is potential for harm to either people or the environment.

SkyCity is committed to maintaining the highest levels of sustainability objectives and practices. Our sustainability initiatives are focused on doing good for our customers, our employees, our communities, our suppliers, our environment and our shareholders. Our objective is to ensure that our strategic decisions strengthen the communities we operate in and provide environments and opportunities for our customers, suppliers and staff to enjoy, to be entertained and to be safe.

Our Sustainability Framework and Strategy

“At SkyCity, we recognise that sustainability is critical to all levels of our business and operation.”

In 2016, after engaging with both internal and external stakeholders on which sustainability issues were most relevant to SkyCity’s business, we adopted our first set of sustainability goals, priority actions and targets and developed a materiality matrix to identify a set of priority impact areas and issues for the business. This framework was subsequently refined in 2018 to incorporate global trends and local market conditions in our approach to, and assessment of, risks and opportunities, culminating in a refreshed set of sustainability pillars.

Given the considerable external and internal change in relation to sustainability practices, perspectives and operating context, we commenced a review of SkyCity’s sustainability framework and strategy in early 2022 - the purpose of which was to understand the drivers for sustainability for SkyCity into the early-mid 2020s, adopt a fit-for-purpose framework for driving sustainability decisions in the business, and gain confidence that SkyCity’s sustainability activity was aligned to organisational purpose and strategy and reflective of the operating context. Following the review, we adopted a new integrated business strategy from 1 July 2022 that integrates environmental, social, and governance considerations into our current business strategy.

In mid-2022, SkyCity also developed and adopted a new three-year sustainability implementation plan for FY23 – FY25 which reflects the priority sustainability activity underpinning our new integrated business strategy. The areas identified as priority issues are those considered highly material for SkyCity’s business and for our stakeholders.

We continue to focus on embedding our sustainability framework and strategy into all levels of the organisation and in the way SkyCity operates.

What Matters Most

We undertake a materiality assessment on a regular basis to prioritise the issues that are most important to our business and key stakeholders in the short, medium, and long term. The materiality assessment determines issues critical to SkyCity’s financial performance and its broad set of stakeholders, including investors, employees, customers, wider society and the environment.

In May 2023, we conducted a materiality assessment with key stakeholders with the assistance of an independent consultant. Stakeholders were asked to identify and score SkyCity’s most material topics from a shortlist of potentially material issues identified by the SkyCity Senior Leadership Team and expert advice using the International Framework’s definition of materiality. The shortlist was derived from a longer list of relevant matters identified via desktop research, a scan of media and industry best practices, insights from the SkyCity Senior Leadership Team and Board, the review of SkyCity’s sustainability framework and strategy in early 2022, and a review of SkyCity’s most recent materiality assessment process in 2020.

If you'd like to know more, please read our Inventory Management Report.

We take our responsibilities as a host very seriously and each of our properties has a robust Host Responsibility Programme in place.

Gambling can be a fun and enjoyable entertainment activity. However, it can also have harmful effects on some individuals, their families, and their communities. Our challenge is therefore to ensure that our business provides entertaining and profitable, yet safe and responsible, experiences and environments.

Best Practice Host Responsibility

“We voluntarily exceed what is required of us on a number of fronts. We have made excellent progress in demonstrating just how seriously we take our responsibility.”

We are immensely proud of the culture of care we have developed within our casinos and continue to focus on ways to ensure that this culture of care is maintained and that we have the highest standard of host responsibility practice. Over the past financial year, we implemented additional host responsibility measures to improve our ability to prevent and minimise harm from problem gambling, including:

• The introduction of an updated Host Responsibility Programme (approved by the Gambling Commission) for each of our New Zealand casinos. The updated programmes include SkyCity’s commitment to introduce carded play across our New Zealand properties by July 2025;
• Adapting and enhancing our facial recognition technology at the SkyCity Auckland and SkyCity Hamilton properties to monitor repeat withdrawals and multiple declined transactions at ATMs for indicators of problem gambling, with the technology soon to be implemented in SkyCity Queenstown;
• Refreshing all of our staff host responsibility training programmes to ensure staff are up-to-date on the latest harm minimisation practices;
• Increasing our host responsibility resourcing, with additional staff recruited as Responsible Gambling Hosts and Host Responsibility Executives and for host responsibility training and data insights; and
• The introduction of PatronScan technology at all of our casino properties to support the identification of minors and verification of ID documentation.

A robust Host Responsibility Programme is in place at each of our physical sites, and within SkyCity Online Casino, to prevent and minimise harm from problem gambling. All SkyCity staff receive training in host responsibility awareness. A dedicated team of experienced host responsibility specialists are employed at each of SkyCity’s land-based casinos and an experienced harm minimisation team is in place for SkyCity Online Casino.

In a dynamic casino environment, maintaining effectiveness, relevancy, and consistency in harm minimisation best practice is an ongoing challenge. In response to that challenge, SkyCity continues to explore available technology solutions, seek expert advice, consult stakeholder groups, and source a range of research material.

Signs and Symptoms

“We partner with local experts and support agencies to ensure we have the resources in place for harm minimisation and prevention.”

SkyCity promotes a range of tools in order to facilitate safer gambling – however, exclusion is an equally important host responsibility offering for those who may be experiencing gambling harm. Our casinos offer extensive information to customers about exclusion options and referral details to problem gambling support services, including gambling helplines and face-to-face counselling organisations.

In New Zealand, customers can choose to exclude themselves from all SkyCity casinos in New Zealand for a period of up to two years. In some cases, SkyCity itself makes the decision to exclude a customer as a means to prevent risk of harm occurring, or as a means to stop further harm through a customer’s gambling at SkyCity’s casinos. In Adelaide, customers can also choose to exclude themselves from the SkyCity Adelaide casino and, in some cases, SkyCity itself or the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner makes the decision to exclude a customer – all exclusions are referred to Consumer and Business Services (the South Australian Gaming regulator).

The signs and symptoms of problem gambling include:

• Gambling makes home life unhappy
• Feeling sad or unhappy after gambling
• Trying to win back losses
• Gambling to escape worry or trouble
• Changing sleeping or eating habits due to gambling
• Borrowing to finance gambling
• Considering committing or actually committing an illegal act to finance
• Considering harming yourself as a result of gambling

Since establishing the SkyCity Community Trust in 1996, we have been proud to support more than 5,000 community groups and organisations, large and small, through our three Community Trusts in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown.

Established to provide funds for community and charitable purposes, the SkyCity Community Trusts are one of the vehicles we use to ‘put something back’ into the local community.

The independent Trusts aim to help local and regional organisations carry out community assistance and development work, focusing on supporting families to thrive and communities to prosper.

SkyCity Community Trust Recipients in FY25

FY25 Trust Recipients - SkyCity Auckland

FY25 Trust Recipients - SkyCity Hamilton

FY25 Trust Recipients - SkyCity Queenstown

SkyCity Community Trust Recipients in FY24

SkyCity is a major sponsor of sports teams, local events, and charities in all the communities in which we operate.

We are proud to work alongside our charity partners: Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand and Variety – the Children’s Charity.

We are equally proud to support some of our greatest local sports teams. We also help raise awareness for a number of other charities and initiatives, supporting many additional organisations that approach us for our help each year.

The breadth of our sponsorship activities enables SkyCity to help the community in many ways. Whether it is providing fundraising opportunities, connecting fans with their sporting heroes, or entertaining the masses, SkyCity is committed to supporting our local communities.

Community Involvement Adelaide

In the giving space, last financial year SkyCity Adelaide supported more than 50 local charities in various ways.

Some of these key partnerships included: 

• Little Heroes Foundation (LHF) - Supports South Australian children by raising funds for essential equipment and services for children suffering from physical or mental illness.
• Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation - Australia’s first and only foundation purely focused on raising funds to invest in life-changing mental health research. The mission of Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation is to help create a life free from mental illness, by investing in targeted mental health research programs focusing upon the focus areas of Aboriginal Mental Health, Eating Disorders, Youth Mental Health, and Depression.
• Sammy D Foundation - Educates young people on the impacts of bullying, violence drug, and alcohol misuse.
• HAS Foundation - Provides ongoing financial and emotional support to children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

Community Involvement Auckland

SkyCity Auckland has a diverse portfolio of partnerships with some of the most recognisable brands and events.

In the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge, firefighters from communities across New Zealand join forces to raise money, with each participant climbing the 1,103 steps of the Sky Tower wearing 25 kilograms of gear. A record $1.5 million was raised through this event over the last financial year, bringing the total raised to over $13.8 million during the 19-year partnership with SkyCity. In the Step Up Challenge, teams, organisations, and individuals come together to climb the Sky Tower. $260,000 was raised over the last financial year through this event, with over $2.8 million raised over the 9-year partnership with SkyCity.

SkyCity Auckland is an ongoing sponsor of Variety – the children’s charity; hosting daily Variety Bingo sessions, will all profits contributed towards helping New Zealand children have a better quality of life.

Community Involvement Hamilton

SkyCity Hamilton sponsors a wide range of charitable organisations, sporting teams and entertainment events. 

SkyCity Hamilton is proud to work alongside Chiefs Manawa, Wanderers Football, The Northern Brave, Te Rapa Racing and the SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup, Magic, Hamilton Charitable Tree Trust, the Chinese Moon Festival and Balloons over Waikato.

Community Involvement Queenstown

SkyCity Queenstown's key partnerships are:

• SkyCity Stampede NZIHL
• Winter Pride
• Wakatipu Wild NZWIHL
• Queenstown Trails Trust
• Whakatipu Reforestation Trust
• Luma

SKYCITY ONLINE CASINO

SkyCity is committed to meaningful engagement with the communities in which its customers live and work.  While SkyCity Online Casino is operated out of Malta its customer base is in New Zealand and therefore its focus is on contributing to charities that genuinely make a difference throughout New Zealand.  This includes helping patients with leukaemia and blood cancer, cleaning up our oceans, and planting native trees.

Each quarter, SkyCity Online Casino voluntarily donates to the following charities: Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand, Sustainable Coastlines and Million Metres Streams. 

By working with various organisations, we diversify our reach and ensure that we benefit communities right across the country.

CHARITY PARTNERS

Variety – The Children’s Charity

SkyCity supports Variety – The Children’s Charity (a charity focused on improving the wellbeing of children and young people) through the delivery of Variety Bingo in Auckland.

Working with Variety – The Children’s Charity, SkyCity has helped to raise more than $150,000 over the last financial year and in excess of $4.9 million over the 23-year partnership.

Leukaemia & Blood Cancer Foundation

Each year, SkyCity supports fundraising efforts for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (the national charity dedicated to supporting patients and their families living with blood cancers and related blood conditions) via the annual Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge and Step Up Challenge. Through both of these events, SkyCity has helped Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand raise $1.7 million over the last financial year and in excess of $16.6 million over the partnership period.

Holidays Act Remediation

SkyCity is conducting an audit into its payroll processes with the understanding that some current and past employees in New Zealand may have received incorrect payments.

The issues relate to entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003 and primarily impact permanent employees who work variable and unpredictable work patterns or work above their contracted hours. In some, but not all, cases these employees may not have not received correct payments and remediation may need to occur. The Holidays Act legislation is complex with varying rules and calculations for different leave types. This is a wide issue affecting many employers and is not isolated to SkyCity.

Once the audit is completed, SkyCity will write to affected employees (past and present) with information about their remediation payment and how they may have it paid. Earnings history and leave patterns are unique to each employee and, as such, not all employees are affected.

Past employees who have changed their address since leaving SkyCity may wish to update their contact details by emailing mypay@skycity.co.nz. Please note that any update of contact details will involve a verification of identify process.

Currently, SkyCity is unable to advise the amount of any remediation payment as we have yet to complete our determination of individual remediation amounts for affected employees.

We appreciate that it is a lengthy process to determine and process the remediation payments. Our focus has been on investigating the issue thoroughly and ensuring the remediation payment calculations are accurate for each affected employee. SkyCity is actively engaging with several third parties to verify our calculations as well as working closely with the Labour Inspectorate.