Legal casino gambling age in New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a French overseas collectivity in the south-west Pacific with its own institutions, its own tax code and a special status under the Nouméa Accord and Organic Law No. 99-209 of 19 March 1999. Gambling there is a small, tightly controlled, land-based sector. It consists of two casinos and a bingo hall, all in the capital, Nouméa, together with pari mutuel (pool) betting on local horse races. Responsibility is shared: the French State’s representative, the High Commissioner, sets the rules for gaming establishments, the government of New Caledonia grants operating authorisations, the Congress of New Caledonia adopts each venue’s specifications, and the City of Nouméa drafts those specifications and collects a levy. No authority in New Caledonia licenses online casino games, and we found no legal text extending France’s 2010 online gambling regime to the territory.
Key points
- There are two casinos and one bingo hall, all in Nouméa. According to press reporting on a review by the Chambre territoriale des comptes, the two casinos are run by a single operator and generated gross gaming revenue of 5.26 billion CFP francs (XPF) in 2023, close to 90% of it from slot machines.
- Casinos need an operating authorisation from the government of New Caledonia. In September 2025 one casino’s authorisation was renewed for ten years from 2 October 2025, covering 300 slot machines and up to 56 gaming tables.
- Operating rules are set by a High Commissioner’s order, Arrêté No. 748 bis of 26 August 2003 on gaming establishments, and each venue’s specifications are adopted by the Congress.
- Gaming proceeds are taxed under the Code des impôts de Nouvelle-Calédonie. A territorial tax, provincial surcharges, a solidarity contribution and a communal levy of up to 10% all apply.
- No online casino, online betting or online poker licence exists for New Caledonia. Whether the French online gambling law applies there could not be confirmed from an official source.
- The 2024 riots reduced casino tax receipts from 2.5 billion XPF in 2023 to 1.84 billion XPF in 2024, according to local press reporting on the Chambre territoriale des comptes.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.
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Historical development
Casino gambling in New Caledonia has developed around Nouméa’s tourist districts. Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, reporting on a 2025 audit by the Chambre territoriale des comptes (the regional audit court), states that a single company has operated both casinos since 1995 and that it is controlled by a hotel company. That hotel company is a subsidiary of the Southern Province’s semi-public development company (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025). This makes the sector an unusual case: the province, which receives the provincial surcharges on casino gaming, is also indirectly the casinos’ main shareholder.
The fiscal architecture is older still. Administrative court decisions record that the Congress codified the communal levy on gaming proceeds in 1996, by Délibération No. 91/CP of 20 September 1996, which became Article 890 of the territorial tax code (Tribunal administratif de Nouvelle-Calédonie, 16 February 2017). That article was later repealed by a loi du pays (a statute of the Congress with legislative force) of 31 December 2016 (Conseil d’État, 4 February 2021, No. 432038).
The territory has resisted expansion of the gambling offer. RNZ Pacific reported that New Caledonia’s two deputies in the National Assembly at the time, Philippe Gomes and Sonia Lagarde, opposed plans for France’s national lottery operator to obtain a concession in the territory. They argued that lottery products would hurt less well-off families, as they said had happened in French Polynesia, and they stressed the social role of bingo and the roughly 500 jobs in the existing casinos (RNZ Pacific). The RNZ page does not carry a date. We found no official act granting a lottery concession in New Caledonia, and this guide does not assume that one exists.
Horse-race betting has a longer local tradition. In May 2015, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes reported that pari mutuel betting had returned to the racecourse at La Foa for the first time in about fifteen years, with bets taken on six races (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2015).
Legal framework
Division of competences between France and New Caledonia
New Caledonia’s status rests on Organic Law No. 99-209 of 19 March 1999, which lists the matters for which New Caledonia is competent (Article 22) and those that remain with the State. Gambling is not dealt with as a single block. In practice, as the documents below show, it is split along three lines:
- Public order and gaming rules (State). The rules governing gaming establishments are laid down by an order of the High Commissioner of the Republic, Arrêté No. 748 bis of 26 August 2003. It has been amended over time, for example in February 2017 to add rules for two poker variants, after an opinion from the territorial gaming commission (Journal officiel de la Nouvelle-Calédonie No. 9377, 16 February 2017).
- Authorisation and specifications (New Caledonia and the commune). According to the regional audit court’s findings as reported in the press, the High Commissioner sets the regulatory framework, the government of New Caledonia issues operating authorisations, the City of Nouméa drafts each venue’s specifications (cahier des charges) and the Congress adopts them (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
- Taxation (New Caledonia). The Tribunal administratif de Nouvelle-Calédonie has held that only New Caledonia may institute taxes, duties and levies in the territory, and that the communal gaming levy was brought within that framework by the Congress (Tribunal administratif de Nouvelle-Calédonie, 28 September 2017).
A closely comparable question was put to the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative court, by French Polynesia, whose status is different from New Caledonia’s but which raises the same issues. In an advisory opinion of 20 May 2025, the Conseil d’État stated that “l’Etat est seul compétent pour prévoir les règles ayant pour objet le contrôle des jeux d’argent et de hasard” (the State alone is competent to lay down rules for the control of gambling). It also found that, for casinos, the State sets the conditions of authorisation and the rules on stakes, while the overseas collectivity may regulate operating matters such as which games are offered (Conseil d’État, opinion of 20 May 2025). The opinion does not mention New Caledonia, and it should not be read as a ruling on New Caledonia’s position. It does, however, explain the general logic behind the shared arrangement described above.
Specifications adopted by the Congress
Each establishment operates under specifications adopted by a deliberation of the Congress, or, between sessions, by its Standing Committee (Commission permanente). Délibération No. 169/CP of 27 May 2025 adopted new specifications for one of the two casinos. Its legal basis cites the Organic Law, the Penal Code and Arrêté No. 748 bis of 2003 (Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, Délibération No. 169/CP). On 17 April 2026 the Standing Committee adopted further specifications for both casinos, by Délibérations No. 202/CP and No. 203/CP, published in the Journal officiel of 24 April 2026 (Délibération No. 202/CP; Délibération No. 203/CP). The specifications themselves are annexes that were not reproduced in the published deliberations we consulted.
Regulator and licensing model
New Caledonia has no single gambling regulator. Its model is best described as a closed authorisation system: a small number of named establishments, each holding an individual operating authorisation from the government and bound by specifications negotiated with the City of Nouméa and approved by the Congress. There is no open licensing round and no published register of the kind kept by regulators elsewhere.
The scope of an authorisation is set out in government decisions. On 23 September 2025 the government renewed one casino’s “autorisation d’exploiter des jeux de hasard” (authorisation to operate games of chance) for ten years from 2 October 2025. According to the government’s summary, it covers up to 44 banking-game tables (jeux de contrepartie, where players bet against the house), up to 12 tables for games between players (jeux de cercle, such as poker), 300 slot machines and electronic versions of roulette and blackjack. The minimum table stake is 100 XPF, and the gaming rooms may open from 11:00 to 04:00 (Government of New Caledonia, decisions of 23 September 2025). New Caledonia’s official tourism body lists the minimum entry age at that casino as 18 (Nouvelle-Calédonie Tourisme).
The bingo hall follows the same pattern. On 11 February 2026 the government adopted draft specifications for it, to run for five years from 1 May 2026, after its 2017 authorisation, due to expire on 30 April 2026, had been extended “à titre exceptionnel” by eight months on 30 December 2025. The draft keeps the communal levy at 10% of net gaming revenue, which the government describes as “le taux maximal autorisé par le code des impôts” (the maximum rate allowed by the tax code). It also requires an annual contribution to tourism, cultural and artistic events in Nouméa and an annual activity report by 30 June (Government of New Caledonia, decisions of 11 February 2026).
Oversight has been criticised. The Chambre territoriale des comptes, in a report covering 2019 to 2024 and published on 28 May 2025, found the earlier specifications “succinct”, lacking precise commitments on tourism and culture, and not rigorously monitored by the city. It recommended a more robust framework with “des engagements précis et un contrôle effectif par la commune” (precise commitments and effective control by the municipality). It noted that the new specifications signed in 2024 for one casino moved in that direction (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
Betting on horse races is organised locally as pari mutuel betting, a pool system in which stakes are pooled and shared among winners after a deduction. The territorial tax return for gaming proceeds contains a separate category for “pari mutuel urbain” (off-course pool betting) on horse races (Direction des services fiscaux, gaming tax return). We could not locate the text authorising or organising off-course betting in New Caledonia, and this guide therefore does not describe its legal basis.
Online gambling
No authority in New Caledonia issues licences for online casino games, online sports betting or online poker. The government decisions and Congress deliberations reviewed for this guide concern land-based establishments only.
In metropolitan France, online gambling is governed by Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010, and the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) approves operators for three categories only: sports betting, horse-race betting and poker. Its 2025 overview gives 17 approved operators in its key figures for 2024. Since March 2022 the ANJ has also been able to order the blocking of illegal gambling sites and of sites advertising them, and the same key figures report 1,337 illegal sites blocked in 2024 (ANJ, 2025 overview). Online casino games such as slots and roulette are not among the approved categories. Our France guide explains the metropolitan regime in detail.
Whether that regime reaches New Caledonia is uncertain. We could not confirm from an official source whether Law No. 2010-476 contains a provision expressly extending it to New Caledonia. In the parallel case of French Polynesia, where national laws apply only when expressly extended, the Conseil d’État stated in May 2025 that the provisions of the 2010 law “n’ont pas fait l’objet d’une disposition expresse d’application” there (had not been expressly extended) and that only legislation setting up a legal regime could settle who designates online operators (Conseil d’État, opinion of 20 May 2025). The ANJ’s published material does not address overseas territories.
In practice, then, residents of New Caledonia have no locally authorised online casino offer. Offshore websites that accept players from the territory are not authorised by New Caledonia, and no New Caledonian scheme for blocking such sites or restricting payments to them was found. We found no published enforcement action against offshore online casinos targeting the territory.
Position of players
The sources reviewed do not show that playing at an offshore online casino is a specific offence for a player in New Caledonia, and we found no reported prosecution or fine of a player. That absence should not be read as authorisation. Online casino games are not authorised by any New Caledonian decision or licence. Players who use offshore sites have no local regulator to complain to, no local dispute resolution and no assurance that games are fair or that funds are protected.
Land-based play is lawful at the authorised venues. Entry is restricted to adults; the tourism authority gives a minimum age of 18 for one casino (Nouvelle-Calédonie Tourisme). The specifications adopted by the Congress may contain further conditions, but their annexes were not available to us.
Taxation
Operators
Gaming is taxed under the Code des impôts de Nouvelle-Calédonie. The territorial return for the tax on shows and gaming proceeds (taxe sur les spectacles et sur les produits des jeux) sets out the following rates for the first category (Direction des services fiscaux):
| Activity | Base | Rates shown on the return |
|---|---|---|
| Casinos and gaming clubs: table games | Monthly net gaming proceeds | Principal 0.5%; provincial surcharges 40%; solidarity contribution (CCS) 4% |
| Bingo cards | Card sales | Principal 0.1%; provincial surcharges 4.5% |
| Slot machines | Machine proceeds | Principal 0.1%; provincial surcharges 5% |
| Other games of chance (e.g. pari mutuel at events) | Organiser’s share | 10%; CCS 4% |
| Off-course pari mutuel on horse races | Quarterly pari mutuel gaming proceeds | 20%; CCS 4% |
The return does not cite the code’s article numbers, and the way each rate combines with the others should be checked against the current code. The provincial surcharges (centimes additionnels) go to the provinces. The press summary of the audit court’s report states that the Southern Province received 8.8 billion XPF in surcharges from the casinos between 2019 and 2024 (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
In addition, the commune may levy up to 10% on gaming proceeds through the venue’s specifications. The Conseil d’État held in 2021 that this communal levy shares the base of the territorial levy, namely the “produit net des jeux” (net gaming proceeds) defined in Article 626 of the tax code, and that a flat 30% abatement does not turn it into a levy on gross proceeds (Conseil d’État, 4 February 2021, No. 432038; Conseil d’État, 4 February 2021, No. 432056). Article 626 defines net proceeds as gross proceeds plus tips, less wages and similar costs, with special rules for junket tours and Texas hold’em poker. The City of Nouméa collected about 2 billion XPF from these levies over the audit period (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
Total gaming taxes on the casinos amounted to 2.5 billion XPF in 2023 and 1.84 billion XPF in 2024. The audit court described the casinos’ contribution to local revenue as “très significative” (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
Players
We found no provision of the territorial tax code imposing tax on players’ gambling winnings, and no official guidance on the point. Players with significant or regular winnings should seek advice from the Direction des services fiscaux.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Responsible gambling provision in New Caledonia is limited and mostly operator-based. The audit court found that the casinos have prevention, awareness and support measures, and described the results as encouraging. It recommended full implementation of the prevention and support component so that problem gamblers can be better identified (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
- Self-exclusion. In metropolitan France, the ANJ runs a national voluntary exclusion scheme (interdiction volontaire de jeux). It bars access to casinos and gaming clubs, account-based lottery and pari mutuel play and ANJ-approved online sites for a minimum of three years (ANJ, voluntary exclusion leaflet). The leaflet does not address overseas territories, and we could not confirm whether exclusions are enforced at New Caledonia’s casinos. Players should ask the venue directly.
- Public health support. The Agence sanitaire et sociale de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, a public body, runs an addiction prevention programme. It includes a consultation service for young people and their families (DECLIC), a prevention service and a social reintegration scheme (ASS-NC, addictions programme). Its published material does not refer specifically to gambling.
- Helplines. We found no gambling-specific helpline based in New Caledonia. France’s national gambling helpline service is organised for France, and its availability from the territory could not be confirmed.
General guidance on setting limits and recognising problem gambling is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- 2024 unrest. The riots of 2024 hit gaming revenue. Casino gaming taxes fell from 2.5 billion XPF in 2023 to 1.84 billion XPF in 2024, a decline the press attributes to the riots (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, 30 May 2025).
- Audit court report (May 2025). The Chambre territoriale des comptes published its review of the casino operator for 2019–2024 on 28 May 2025, recommending firmer specifications and better addiction prevention.
- New specifications (2025–2026). The Standing Committee of the Congress adopted specifications for one casino on 27 May 2025, and for both casinos on 17 April 2026 (Délibérations No. 202/CP and No. 203/CP).
- Casino authorisation renewed (September 2025). One casino’s operating authorisation was renewed for ten years from 2 October 2025.
- Bingo hall (2026). The government adopted draft specifications on 11 February 2026 for a five-year term from 1 May 2026, subject to approval by the Congress. We did not find the Congress’s final deliberation on these specifications.
- Online gambling. The Conseil d’État’s May 2025 opinion for French Polynesia suggests that legislation would be needed before any regulated online offer could exist in a Pacific collectivity. We found no comparable proposal for New Caledonia as of October 2026.
Casino listings for players in New Caledonia
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is authorised in New Caledonia, where only the land-based establishments in Nouméa hold operating authorisations and no online casino licence exists. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing at any online casino is lawful or protected in New Caledonia. Readers can check authorisations in the official legal database of New Caledonia (Juridoc).
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Sources and further reading
- Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes (B. Gouret), Une réglementation fragile mais des résultats « remarquables » : la Chambre des comptes se penche sur les casinos de Nouméa (30 May 2025).
- Government of New Caledonia, Décisions du gouvernement, séance du 23 septembre 2025 (2025).
- Government of New Caledonia, Décisions du gouvernement, séance du 11 février 2026 (2026).
- Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, Délibération n° 169/CP du 27 mai 2025 portant adoption du cahier des charges d’un établissement de jeux de Nouméa (2025).
- Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (Juridoc), Délibération n° 202/CP du 17 avril 2026 (cahier des charges d’un établissement de jeux) (2026).
- Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (Juridoc), Délibération n° 203/CP du 17 avril 2026 (cahier des charges d’un établissement de jeux) (2026).
- Journal officiel de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, JONC n° 9377, including Arrêté HC/DIRAG/BELP n° 49 du 1er février 2017 modifiant l’arrêté n° 748 bis du 26 août 2003 (16 February 2017).
- Conseil d’État, Décision n° 432038 du 4 février 2021 (prélèvement communal sur le produit des jeux) (2021).
- Conseil d’État, Décision n° 432056 du 4 février 2021 (prélèvement communal sur le produit des jeux) (2021).
- Tribunal administratif de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Jugement n° 1600336 du 16 février 2017 (2017).
- Tribunal administratif de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Jugement n° 1700143 du 28 septembre 2017 (2017).
- Direction des services fiscaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Déclaration de la taxe sur les spectacles et sur les produits des jeux (1ère catégorie) (2022).
- Conseil d’État, Avis sur la répartition des compétences entre l’État et la Polynésie française en matière de jeux d’argent et de hasard (20 May 2025).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Plaquette ANJ 2025 (2025).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Interdiction volontaire de jeux (leaflet) (2021).
- Agence sanitaire et sociale de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, Addictions: présentation (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Nouvelle-Calédonie Tourisme, Casino visitor information, Anse Vata, Nouméa (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, Les paris remis en selle (30 May 2015).
- RNZ Pacific, New Caledonia deputies oppose national lottery expansion (undated report) (accessed 13 October 2026).
