Gambling in Tokelau: Laws, Gaming Offence and Online Play

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Tokelau, a group of three atolls in the South Pacific administered by New Zealand, has no casinos, no lottery, no betting operators and no licensing system for gambling of any kind. Its law on the subject is short. The territory’s criminal code, the Crimes, Procedure and Evidence Rules 2003, makes it an offence for a person to play a game for money with cards or with dice. No Tokelau rule creates a gambling regulator, authorises online gambling or deals expressly with internet gambling. New Zealand’s own gambling statutes, including the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, do not extend to Tokelau. This guide explains how law is made for Tokelau, what the gaming offence covers, what could not be verified, and the wider context of connectivity, tax, anti-money-laundering rules and the territory’s self-determination debate.

Key points

Tokelau is a non-self-governing territory within the Realm of New Zealand. Under the Tokelau Act 1948, New Zealand statutes do not apply there unless expressly extended, and Tokelau’s own law is made mainly by its national assembly, the General Fono.
Rule 64 of the Crimes, Procedure and Evidence Rules 2003 provides that “a person who plays a game for money with cards or with dice commits an offence”. It is the only gambling provision found in Tokelau law.
There is no gambling regulator, licence, casino, lottery or betting shop in Tokelau, and no rule addressing online gambling, website blocking or payment blocking was found.
New Zealand’s Gambling Act 2003 and Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 do not apply in Tokelau; New Zealand’s interpretation statute excludes Tokelau from “New Zealand” used in a territorial sense.
No gambling tax exists. Tokelau’s Income Tax Rules 1997 tax remuneration and residents’ income and do not mention winnings.
No local problem-gambling service or self-exclusion scheme was identified; New Zealand’s Gambling Helpline serves Tokelauans living in New Zealand.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

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Historical development and constitutional status

Tokelau consists of the atolls of Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo. The Tokelau Act 1948 declares that Tokelau “is hereby declared to form part of New Zealand” (section 3), but it also provides in section 6 that, except as otherwise expressly provided, “the statute law of New Zealand … shall not be in force in Tokelau”. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) describes Tokelau as a non-self-governing territory within the Realm of New Zealand, whose people are New Zealand citizens. A “non-self-governing territory” is the United Nations term for a territory whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government; Tokelau remains on the UN list.

The population is very small. The Tokelau National Statistics Office’s 2019 Population Count recorded 1,480 people present on census night and a usually resident population of 1,647, divided roughly equally between the three atolls. Each atoll has a single village community. The territory has no airport; a 2024 PMN News report noted hopes for an airfield project. The Tokelau public service maintains a liaison office in Apia, Samoa (Tokelau Government, How Tokelau is governed).

Since the 1990s New Zealand has devolved most day-to-day government to Tokelau’s own institutions. The Tokelau Amendment Act 1996 inserted section 3A into the Tokelau Act, giving the General Fono power to make rules for the territory from 1 August 1996. Two referendums on Tokelau’s status followed, in 2006 and 2007. According to a UN draft resolution of June 2025, neither produced “the two-thirds majority of valid votes cast required by the General Fono” to change Tokelau’s status. A 2024 report by PMN News gave the 2007 result as 64% in favour, short of the 66% threshold. Tokelau therefore remains administered by New Zealand, a relationship whose centenary falls in 2026, according to RNZ Pacific.

Against this background, gambling has never developed as an industry. No historical source found for this guide records a casino, lottery, betting operator or gambling licence in Tokelau, and no gambling legislation appears among the rules in force.

Legal framework

Checking gambling legislation and licensing

Who makes law for Tokelau

Section 3A of the Tokelau Act 1948 allows the General Fono to make rules “necessary for the peace, order, and good government of Tokelau”, including rules that impose taxes and fines and create criminal offences. Rules inconsistent with Acts or regulations in force in Tokelau are of no effect to the extent of the inconsistency (section 3B), and the Administrator of Tokelau, a New Zealand official, may disallow a rule within 30 days (section 3F). Under section 3A(4), rules may not apply or have effect outside Tokelau. The Governor-General of New Zealand also retains a power to make regulations by Order in Council (section 4), and English common law and equity apply where not excluded or inapplicable (section 4B).

At village level, the Village Incorporation Rules 1986 establish Atafu, Fakaofo and Nukunonu as bodies corporate managed by their Taupulega, the village councils of elders. A village may make village rules by Taupulega resolution, may impose “tolls, rates, dues, fees, fines, taxes, and other charges”, and may create offences punishable by fines “not exceeding 3 penalty units” (rules 18 and 19). The Tokelau Government states that each Taupulega is the source of authority, or pule, and that the three Taupulega delegated authority over national matters to the General Fono in 2004 (How Tokelau is governed). Village rules are deposited at village offices rather than published centrally; none relating to gambling could be located for this guide, and their existence or absence cannot be confirmed from public sources.

The gaming offence

The principal criminal code is the Crimes, Procedure and Evidence Rules 2003, made by the General Fono. Among the offences grouped under “Public order, morality and community services” (rules 39 to 69), rule 64, headed “Gaming”, reads in full:

“A person who plays a game for money with cards or with dice commits an offence.”

Several features of this provision are worth noting:

It targets the player. The offence is committed by the person who plays, not by an organiser or operator. There is no separate offence of running a gaming house, promoting gambling or advertising it.
It is limited to cards and dice. The text does not mention betting, lotteries, raffles, gaming machines or other games of chance. Whether such activities are lawful is not addressed by any rule found.
It contains no exception for small social games or fundraising, and it does not define “for money”.
It says nothing about electronic play. Whether an online card or dice game played from Tokelau would fall within rule 64 has not, as far as could be found, been considered by any court.

Rule 136(1) provides that the maximum penalty for each offence is the one specified in Schedule 2 of the Rules. The publicly available PacLII text of the 2005 consolidation does not reproduce Schedule 2, so the maximum penalty for gaming could not be verified. For context, rule 112(4) gives an atoll Commissioner, Tokelau’s lay judicial officer, jurisdiction over offences punishable by a fine of up to 10 penalty units or imprisonment of up to one year. Cases before a Commissioner are heard with such members of the Taupulega as choose to attend (rule 83).

New Zealand gambling law does not apply

New Zealand regulates gambling through the Gambling Act 2003, which treats most remote interactive gambling as prohibited, and through the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which received assent on 28 April 2026 and creates a licensing regime for up to 15 online casino licences administered by the Department of Internal Affairs. No provision extending either Act to Tokelau was found. Section 6 of the Tokelau Act keeps New Zealand statute law out of Tokelau unless expressly extended, and section 13 of the Legislation Act 2019 states that “New Zealand”, used as a territorial description, does not include the self-governing states of the Cook Islands and Niue, “Tokelau, or the Ross Dependency”. The 2026 Act therefore regulates online casino gambling in New Zealand in that territorial sense, not in Tokelau.

Tokelau has also adopted some New Zealand law by its own rules. The Application of New Zealand Laws Rules 2004 bring in New Zealand law on bills of exchange, marine insurance, partnership, trusts and intellectual property. Gambling, lotteries and racing are not among them. The PacLII list of rules in force (as at May 2016) contains 48 instruments, none of which concerns gambling by title.

Regulator and licensing model

Tokelau has no gambling regulator and no licensing model in the usual sense. In a licensing system, a state authority grants permits to operators who meet set conditions; in a monopoly system, gambling is reserved to a single, usually state-owned, operator; in a prohibition system, gambling is banned outright. Tokelau fits none of these models neatly. It has a narrow criminal prohibition on playing cards or dice for money and no framework for authorising any form of gambling.

The only general business-licensing instrument found, the Business Restriction Rules 1989, requires approval from the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, the territory’s executive, before a person carries on business as a bank, moneylender or insurer. It does not mention gambling. No casino, lottery, totalisator, betting shop or gaming-machine venue is recorded in any official source consulted, and no state or village lottery was identified. Readers should not assume that the absence of a licensing law makes commercial gambling lawful: any operator would still face rule 64 to the extent its games involve cards or dice, the Business Restriction Rules where financial services are involved, and the general powers of each Taupulega over village affairs.

Online gambling and enforcement

Online casino games on mobile devices

Tokelau’s connectivity improved substantially when a submarine fibre-optic cable reached the territory on 20 September 2021, providing faster and more reliable internet, according to the UN Special Committee on Decolonization. Telecommunications are run locally by the Telecommunication Tokelau Corporation (Teletok), a statutory corporation established under the Telecommunication Tokelau Corporation Rules 1996 (PacLII rules in force); MFAT notes that Tokelau manages its own telecommunications with New Zealand support.

No Tokelau law addresses online gambling. The searches for this guide found no provision that:

licenses or prohibits remote (internet or telephone) gambling as such;
requires internet service providers to block gambling websites;
restricts payments to gambling operators; or
regulates gambling advertising.

Because General Fono rules cannot “apply or have effect outside Tokelau” (Tokelau Act 1948, s 3A(4)), Tokelau has no legal mechanism to regulate offshore operators directly. No enforcement action against an online gambling operator or website in connection with Tokelau was found.

The .tk domain

Tokelau’s country-code internet domain is .tk. According to the IANA root zone database, the domain was registered in 1997 and its manager is Teletok. A .tk web address says nothing about where a business is based or licensed. Because Tokelau issues no gambling licences, a gambling website using a .tk address cannot hold a Tokelau gambling licence, and the domain should not be read as evidence of any Tokelau authorisation.

Position of players

The legal position of a person gambling in Tokelau can be stated only within the limits of the published rules:

Card and dice games for money played in Tokelau are an offence for the player under rule 64 of the Crimes, Procedure and Evidence Rules 2003, whatever the stakes.
Other forms of gambling, such as betting or lotteries, are not mentioned in any rule found. Their legal status is therefore uncertain rather than clearly lawful.
Online gambling with overseas websites is not expressly addressed. Whether rule 64 reaches online card or dice games played from Tokelau is an open question of interpretation; no court decision was found.
Village rules made by a Taupulega may impose further restrictions, with fines of up to 3 penalty units; none on gambling could be located, but this cannot be ruled out.

No reported prosecution of a player for gaming in Tokelau, and no published decision interpreting rule 64, was found in the PacLII materials consulted. Tokelauans who live in New Zealand are subject to New Zealand law there, including the Gambling Act 2003 and, from its commencement, the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026.

Taxation

Tokelau has no tax on gambling operators or gambling revenue, which is consistent with the absence of any lawful gambling sector. The Income Tax Rules 1997 tax “all remuneration paid for services performed in Tokelau or in the service of Tokelau” at source and require every resident to pay tax on net income, excluding family remittances. Rates in the Schedule run from 5% on the first $3,000 to 25% above $25,000. The Rules do not mention winnings or prizes, and how they would treat gambling gains has not been tested.

Government revenue comes mainly from fisheries licence fees and New Zealand budget support, according to MFAT. That base came under pressure in 2026. RNZ Pacific, as republished by PINA on 21 August 2026, reported that, according to New Zealand officials, Tokelau lost more than 60% of its fishing revenue between February and June 2026 after its participation in the Vessel Day Scheme of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, a regional system for selling tuna-fishing days, ended. The same report stated that New Zealand had budgeted NZ$138 million for Tokelau for June 2024 to 2027. MFAT, quoted by PMN News in July 2026, rejected claims that New Zealand had increased its control of Tokelau’s fisheries and said it would welcome Tokelau’s readmission to the scheme. No proposal to raise revenue from gambling was found.

Anti-money laundering

No Tokelau anti-money-laundering (AML) or counter-terrorist-financing rule was found. The Banking Rules 2004 establish the Tokelau Savings Bank and the Tokelau Development Bank as corporations, managed by the Director of Finance of the Tokelau Public Service, but contain no customer due diligence or suspicious-transaction reporting duties. The Business Restriction Rules 1989 require approval for banks, moneylenders and insurers but impose no AML obligations. Whether any New Zealand AML statute has been expressly extended to Tokelau could not be confirmed from the sources consulted; under section 6 of the Tokelau Act, it would not apply without such an extension. This guide therefore makes no claim that Tokelau has a functioning AML regime for gambling.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Because gambling is not authorised, Tokelau has no rules on age limits, game fairness, player funds or advertising, and no self-exclusion register. No local problem-gambling service was identified. Concerns would in practice be raised with village authorities, the Taupulega, or health services.

Many Tokelauans live in New Zealand, where support is available from the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 or by free text to 8006, 24 hours a day. The service is run by Whakarongorau Aotearoa, New Zealand Telehealth Services, and offers a specialist Pasifika helpline. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

Self-determination consultations (2024–2026). RNZ Pacific reported on 15 March 2025 that a special committee was being set up to inform people about independence, integration and free association before any third referendum, with no fixed timeline and with UNDP support for governance. As at the latest sources found, no referendum date had been announced.
UN review (June 2025). The UN Special Committee on Decolonization’s draft resolution on Tokelau recorded the 2023 elections, a change of the Ulu-o-Tokelau (the rotating head of government) on 17 March 2025, and ongoing devolution to the three Taupulega.
Fisheries revenue (2026). Tokelau’s exit from the Vessel Day Scheme in early 2026 and the resulting fall in revenue remained unresolved as at August 2026, according to reports by RNZ Pacific and PMN News; MFAT says it supports readmission.
New Zealand online casino licensing (2026). The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 took effect from 1 May 2026, with further provisions from 1 December 2026 and 1 January 2027. It applies to New Zealand, not Tokelau.
Gambling law in Tokelau. No bill, consultation or General Fono decision on gambling was found for 2023–2026.

Casino listings for players in Tokelau

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that any operator is licensed in Tokelau, which has no gambling regulator and issues no gambling licences, so there is no register to check. Playing games of cards or dice for money is an offence under Tokelau’s Crimes, Procedure and Evidence Rules 2003, and the listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful.

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Key points

Top Rated Online Casinos for Tokelau

Historical development and constitutional status

Legal framework

Who makes law for Tokelau

The gaming offence

New Zealand gambling law does not apply

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling and enforcement

The .tk domain

Position of players

Taxation

Anti-money laundering

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Tokelau

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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