Legal casino gambling age in Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands regulates gambling under a single, largely colonial-era statute, the Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap. 139), which dates from 1961 and has been amended several times since. The Act starts from a general prohibition: gaming that does not meet strict conditions is unlawful, and “all lotteries are unlawful” unless they fall within a statutory exemption. Commercial gaming, meaning games of chance played in a casino, is allowed only under a permit from the Gaming and Lotteries Board, a five-member body appointed by the Minister for Home Affairs. The Act says nothing about the internet, and there is no licensing regime for online casinos aimed at residents.
Key points
- The Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap. 139), originally Act No. 1 of 1961, is the main gambling statute. The current consolidation on PacLII is stated to be in force as at 5 February 2024.
- The Gaming and Lotteries Board, appointed by the Minister for Home Affairs, grants commercial gaming permits and commercial lottery licences. No more than two commercial gaming permits may be granted for Honiara.
- Under section 6(3), only foreign or overseas visitors and “approved persons” (members of a club housed in a hotel complex) have a right to enter or take part in commercial gaming.
- The Act does not mention online gambling. No authority issues licences for online casino services to residents, and no website-blocking or payment-blocking regime was found.
- Taking part in prohibited gaming, or gaming in a street or other public place, is an offence for players, punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 penalty units (SBD 5,000). Police have arrested dozens of people playing the street card game known as “pass” since early 2023.
- Casinos, gambling houses and lottery operators, including those operating through the internet, are “cash dealers” with anti-money laundering duties under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.
Online casinos for Solomon Islands
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Historical development
The Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap. 139) began as Act No. 1 of 1961 and commenced on 24 June 1961, when the islands were still a British protectorate. It follows the British model of the period: gaming is lawful only when chances are equal and no one takes a cut, and lotteries are banned subject to narrow exemptions. The endnotes to the consolidation list amendments in 1967, 1982, 1987 and 1988, followed by the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Acts of 2004 and 2006, the Penalties Miscellaneous (Amendments) Act 2009 and the Legislation Amendment, Repeal and Validation Act 2023.
Casino gaming appears in the official record in the 1990s. Ministerial declarations made under the Gaming Regulations 1994 approved premises in the REG Building on Mendana Avenue, Point Cruz, Honiara, for American roulette, baccarat and blackjack in August 1994 (Legal Notice No. 99 of 1994); slot machines were added at the same address in April 1995 (Legal Notice No. 36 of 1995).
The most significant reform came in 2004. According to the report of Parliament’s Bills and Legislation Committee (National Parliament Paper No. 18 of 2004), the existing Act did not control casino gambling by place or locality, and the Bill was designed to give the Board tighter supervision by confining commercial gaming to hotel-casino complexes and limiting entry to members and approved persons. The resulting Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2004 (No. 9 of 2004) was assented to on 12 January 2005. It gave existing permit holders two years to move their casinos into hotel complexes. The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2006 (No. 2 of 2006) then let the Minister, on the Board’s recommendation, extend that period by gazetted order, and in November 2006 the Minister granted one casino permit holder a further five years to comply (ministerial notice of 13 November 2006).
Casino expansion has been contested. In October 2005 the Solomon Islands Christian Association publicly opposed a proposal for a third casino licence linked to a planned hotel development in Honiara. Its leader, Reverend Eric Takila, cited a past survey linking casinos to social problems in Honiara (RNZ Pacific, 3 October 2005). The statutory cap of two Honiara permits has not been raised.
Legal framework
The Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap. 139)
The Act defines gaming as “the playing of a game of chance for winnings in money or money’s worth”. A game of chance includes a game that combines chance and skill but excludes athletic games and sports. Commercial gaming means playing any game of chance, by gaming machine or otherwise, in a casino, and a casino means the areas of a hotel-casino complex identified in the permit, including a private members-only club in the hotel. A gaming machine is a machine for playing a game of chance that needs no action by the player beyond operating it.
Outside licensed casinos, the Act’s starting point is restrictive. Under section 3, gaming is lawful only if the chances are equal for all players, no part of the stakes is kept other than as winnings, and no other payment is required to take part. Gaming with unequal chances in the presence of ten or more people, or where payment is required to enter, is presumed unlawful. Section 4 makes it an offence to take part in gaming in a street or other public place, and police may arrest without a warrant. Gaming involving anyone under 18 is prohibited unless it takes place in a private dwelling or with a parent present and consenting.
For casinos, section 6(1) provides that “commercial gaming shall only be permitted in areas of a hotel-casino complex identified in a permit issued by the Board”, and section 6(3) states that “no person other than foreign or overseas guests or visitors to Solomon Islands or approved persons” has a right to enter, remain or take part in commercial gaming. An approved person is “a person who is a member of a club housed in a hotel complex”. Section 8 confirms that bets made in permitted commercial gaming, and participation in a licensed commercial lottery, are not unlawful.
Lotteries
Section 13 declares that “all lotteries are unlawful”, subject to three exemptions:
- small lotteries at entertainments such as bazaars, fetes, dances and sporting events (section 14), with no money prizes and proceeds applied to non-private purposes;
- society lotteries run by charitable, sporting, cultural or other non-commercial societies (section 15), with prizes capped at SBD 500,000, tickets at no more than SBD 100 and no sales to anyone under 16; both of these require the prior written consent of the Provincial Secretary; and
- commercial lotteries (section 16), which may be run only by a person ordinarily resident in Solomon Islands under a licence from the Board.
The Act contains no separate licensing regime for bookmaking or sports betting. No state-owned national lottery was identified in the sources reviewed for this guide.
Subsidiary legislation
Section 6(6) empowers the Minister, after consulting the Board, to make regulations on the types of commercial gaming and gaming machines permitted, inspections, operating hours, winnings, accounts and records, stamp duty exemptions and “fees, levies or other charges”. The main instruments are the Gaming Regulations 1994 and the Poker/Keno Machines (Control) Regulation 2015 (Legal Notice No. 92 of 2015), which a 2020 notice also cites as the Poker/Bingo Keno Machines (Control) Regulations 2015.
Penalties
The Penalties Miscellaneous (Amendments) Act 2009 converted the Act’s fines into penalty units and set the value of one penalty unit at one Solomon Islands dollar. The original SBD 100 fines for taking part in prohibited gaming (section 3(5)) and for gaming in a public place (section 4(1)) became 5,000 penalty units each. Possessing gaming instruments carries up to 10,000 penalty units or one year’s imprisonment on a first conviction.
Regulator and licensing model
Solomon Islands operates a restricted licensing model: a small number of land-based permits are issued at the discretion of a ministerial board, with a hard numerical cap for the capital. The Gaming and Lotteries Board is established by section 19 and consists of five members appointed by the Minister for two-year terms. It decides applications for permits and licences and oversees licensed premises, assisted by inspectors appointed under section 23. An applicant refused a permit or licence may appeal to the Minister within one month, and the Minister’s decision is final (section 17).
The Act refers only to “the Minister”, but gazetted appointments show that the responsible minister is the Minister for Home Affairs. The most recent appointment found, dated 12 June 2024, named four members, including the chairman, for two years (Solomon Islands Gazette, 12 June 2024). On that basis the term would have expired around June 2026; no later appointment notice was found.
The main authorisations are:
- Commercial gaming permits for casinos in hotel-casino complexes. The Board must be satisfied of the premises, the applicant’s fitness and finances, and that the applicant holds no other such permit. Section 20(3) prohibits the Board from granting more than two commercial gaming permits for the city of Honiara.
- Exclusive poker/keno machine permits under the 2015 Regulation. Only a holder of a commercial gaming permit may apply, and the Board may issue “only one exclusive poker/keno machine permit within Honiara City” for machines operated outside the holder’s usual place of business.
- Approved machine venues: gazetted declarations show the Minister approving a Point Cruz building for poker and keno machines in February 2016 (Legal Notice No. 7 of 2016) and nominating bingo as the only game at a venue in Kukum, Honiara, in January 2020 (Legal Notice No. 4 of 2020).
- Commercial lottery licences under section 16, and Provincial Secretary consents for small and society lotteries.
Published fees are modest by international standards. The Gaming (Amendment) Regulations 2013 set an establishment fee of SBD 50,000, a permit fee of SBD 10,000 and an annual renewal fee of SBD 10,000. The 2015 Regulation sets an application fee of SBD 500 and a permit fee and annual renewal fee of SBD 10,000 for the poker/keno machine permit, which is valid for twelve months.
The Board does not publish a register online. Police stated in December 2018 that the Act allows only two casino permits in Honiara, that both had been granted, that the Act makes no provision for casino permits in the provinces and that no other company held one. Police added that gaming licences some businesses had obtained from provincial authorities were regarded by the Gaming Board as illegal, because those businesses held no commercial gaming permit (RSIPF media release, 23 December 2018). The release reported two arrests at an alleged unlicensed casino east of Honiara.
Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced
The Gaming and Lotteries Act does not mention online, internet or remote gambling. Its licensing provisions are tied to physical premises: commercial gaming is lawful only within the areas of a hotel-casino complex identified in a Board permit. There is no licence category for an online casino serving the public in Solomon Islands, and no published list of authorised or prohibited websites.
One gazetted instrument nonetheless refers to online play. A ministerial declaration of approved premises and games for a Honiara casino, dated 12 October 2015, lists “Sports Betting & Wagering” and “Internet Online Gaming Wagering” among the approved games (Solomon Islands Gazette, 15 October 2015). The declaration is made under section 6 of the Act and the Gaming Regulations, so it attaches to the approved premises; it does not create a general online licensing regime, and section 6(3) still limits participation in commercial gaming to foreign visitors and approved persons. How, if at all, this approval is used in practice could not be established from public sources.
The anti-money laundering legislation is more explicit. The Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 defines a “cash dealer” to include “a casino, gambling house or lottery operator (including a person who carries on such a business through the internet)” when customers’ transactions reach a prescribed amount. Cash dealers must identify customers, keep records for six years, and report suspicious transactions to the Solomon Islands Financial Intelligence Unit within two working days.
No website-blocking or payment-blocking measures directed at offshore gambling sites were identified, and no advertising code specific to gambling was found. Reported police enforcement concerns land-based casinos and street gambling.
Position of players
Solomon Islands is one of the jurisdictions where players, not only organisers, can commit gambling offences. Under section 3(5) of the Act, a person present at prohibited gaming “for the purposes of taking part” commits an offence, and presence is presumed to be for that purpose unless the contrary is proved. Section 4(1) separately makes it an offence to take part in gaming in a street or other public place. Each offence carries a fine of up to 5,000 penalty units (SBD 5,000).
These provisions are enforced. The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF), assisted by Australian Federal Police officers, shut down eight street gambling sites in Honiara in April 2022 under “Operation Stopem Gambling 2022”, citing section 4(1) (SIBC, April 2022). In January 2023 police and the Solomon Islands International Assistance Force arrested 34 people, 10 of them women, for playing the card game known as “pass” at Rove Market, White River and Lord Howe Settlement. They were charged with gaming in a public place and bailed to appear before the Honiara Central Magistrates’ Court (RSIPF media release, 9 January 2023). Fourteen more were arrested in March 2023 (Solomon Islands Government). In a later raid in Auki, Malaita Province, police arrested ten players and took the owner of the premises into custody, citing sections 3(4) and 4 of the Act (SIBC). Court outcomes for these cases were not found.
For casinos, residents face an access restriction rather than a criminal offence: section 6(3) gives a right of entry and participation only to foreign or overseas visitors and to members of a club housed in a hotel complex. How casinos apply this rule in practice is not publicly documented.
For online gambling, no provision expressly criminalises a resident who plays with an offshore website, and no prosecution of an online player was found. That is not a statement that such play is lawful. The Act’s definitions of gaming and lotteries are broad, it provides no authorisation for online services offered to residents, and players using offshore sites have no local regulator to turn to in a dispute over winnings.
Taxation
The Gaming and Lotteries Act does not itself impose a gaming tax. It allows regulations to prescribe “fees, levies or other charges” and to exempt commercial gaming transactions from stamp duty. The permit and renewal fees described above are the only published charges.
The Gaming Regulations also contain a percentage in regulation 49 that has been changed twice: the Gaming (Amendment) Regulation 2008 replaced “five percent” with “thirty five percent”, and the Gaming (Amendment) Regulation 2017 restored “five percent”. The text of the principal 1994 Regulations was not available online, so it could not be confirmed what this percentage applies to, for example whether it is a levy on casino revenue.
No provision taxing players’ gambling winnings was identified.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
The legal framework protects consumers mainly by limiting access rather than by modern harm-minimisation tools:
- Age rules: gaming involving people under 18 is prohibited outside a private dwelling or parental supervision, and society lottery tickets may not be sold to anyone under 16.
- Geographic and numerical caps: two casino permits for Honiara and one exclusive poker/keno machine permit for the city.
- Anti-money laundering duties: casinos and lottery operators must carry out customer identification and report suspicious transactions. The 2019 mutual evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering rated the country’s overall AML/CFT system as having low effectiveness on eight of eleven outcomes.
No national self-exclusion scheme, statutory pre-commitment system or dedicated gambling helpline was identified for Solomon Islands. Concern about gambling harm is nevertheless prominent in public debate. Church leaders opposed casino expansion in 2005, and police have justified street-gambling operations by reference to “social and family problems such as domestic violence” (SIBC, April 2022). People affected by gambling may seek help from health services, church organisations or community support groups. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Consolidated Act (2024). The Cap. 139 consolidation reflects the Legislation Amendment, Repeal and Validation Act 2023, in force from 5 February 2024. No broader reform bill on gambling was found.
- Board appointment (2024). The Minister for Home Affairs appointed a four-member Board for two years by notice dated 12 June 2024. A successor appointment, which would have been due around June 2026, had not been found at the time of review.
- Continued street-gambling enforcement. Police raids have continued, including the Auki operation described above. In April 2026 The Guardian reported that the card game “pass” had taken off in Honiara, played in smoky shelters and tents; it quoted Assistant Commissioner Jimson Robo as saying police were “not slowing down” (The Guardian, 18 April 2026). The article gave the penalty for players as a $100 fine, which matches the figure in the Act before 2009; since the conversion to penalty units the statutory maximum has been SBD 5,000.
- Online gambling. No legislative proposal to license or prohibit online gambling expressly was found. A review of gaming law by the Law Reform Commission could not be confirmed from public sources.
Casino listings for players in Solomon Islands
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in Solomon Islands. No authority in Solomon Islands licenses online casino services for residents, and the Gaming and Lotteries Board does not publish an online register. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful. The governing law is the Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap. 139).
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Related country guides
- Vanuatu gambling guide
- Papua New Guinea gambling guide
- Fiji gambling guide
- Tonga gambling guide
- Australia gambling guide
Sources and further reading
- Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII), Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap. 139) (consolidation as in force at 5 February 2024; accessed 13 October 2026).
- PacLII, Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2004 (No. 9 of 2004) (2005).
- PacLII, Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2006 (No. 2 of 2006) (2006).
- National Parliament of Solomon Islands, Bills and Legislation Committee, Report on the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2004 (National Parliament Paper No. 18 of 2004).
- PacLII, Penalties Miscellaneous (Amendments) Act 2009 (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Declaration of Approved Premises and Games, Legal Notice No. 99 of 1994 (1994).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Declaration of Approved Premises and Games, Legal Notice No. 36 of 1995 (1995).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Granting of Further Period to Operate Casino Outside a Hotel-Casino Complex (2006).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Gaming (Amendment) Regulation 2008, Legal Notice No. 34 of 2008 (2008).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Gaming (Amendment) Regulations 2013, Legal Notice No. 29 of 2013 (2013).
- Solomon Islands Gazette, Declaration of Approved Premises and Games, Extraordinary Gazette No. 137 (15 October 2015).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Poker/Keno Machines (Control) Regulation 2015, Legal Notice No. 92 of 2015 (2015).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Gaming (Amendment) Regulation 2017, Legal Notice No. 71 of 2017 (2017).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Declaration of Approved Premises and Games, Legal Notice No. 7 of 2016 (2016).
- Minister for Home Affairs, Declaration of Approved Premises and Nomination of Game, Legal Notice No. 4 of 2020 (2020).
- Solomon Islands Gazette, Appointment of Gaming and Lotteries Board (12 June 2024).
- PacLII, Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (consolidation as in force at 5 February 2024; accessed 13 October 2026).
- FATF / Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, Solomon Islands’ measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing: Mutual Evaluation Report (October 2019).
- Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, Two foreign nationals arrest for unlawful commercial gaming (23 December 2018).
- Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, Police arrest 34 suspects for Gambling in Honiara (9 January 2023).
- Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, RSIPF and AFP conduct ‘Operation Stopem Gambling 2022’ (April 2022).
- Solomon Islands Government, Police arrests 14 suspects for gambling in Honiara (March 2023).
- Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Police arrest gamblers in Malaita Province (accessed 13 October 2026).
- RNZ Pacific, Christian Association in Solomons opposes third casino (3 October 2005).
- Cavanough, E. (The Guardian), Inside smoky shelters, a fast-paced, illegal card game has taken off in Solomon Islands (18 April 2026).
