Gambling Policy

Gambling

• Gambling Policy
• Gambling Legislation
• Betting and Lotteries Commission
• The Ping Wo Fund
• Research and studies on gambling-related issues and problems
• Counselling and treatment as well as other remedial services for gamblers with gambling disorder
• Ping Wo Fund Sponsorship Scheme
• Ping Wo Fund School Project Grants
• Message from the Chairman, Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee (December 2012)

Gambling Policy

The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau is responsible for formulating gambling policy and monitoring its implementation. Hitherto, the gambling policy is to restrict gambling opportunities to a limited number of authorised and regulated outlets. At present, such authorised gambling outlets include horse racing organised by the Hong Kong Jockey Club , the Mark Six Lottery, authorised football betting and gaming activities authorised by the public officer appointed by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs under the Gambling Ordinance (Cap. 148) (e.g. mahjong parlours).

The rationale behind this policy is two-fold. First, while we recognise that there is always a demand for gambling, the conduct of gambling activities should be authorised and regulated. This is because unregulated gambling activities can lead to a number of social problems - frauds, underage gambling, loan sharking, etc. - and become a potential source of income for triad and criminal activities. Second, since it is impossible to reconcile the different views in the community on the extent to which authorised gambling outlets should be allowed to exist, a compromise approach is to allow only a limited number of authorised gambling outlets, the purpose of which is to satisfy substantial and persistent public demand for gambling which would otherwise turn to illegal operators.

Gambling Legislation

Under the Gambling Ordinance (Cap. 148), all gambling activities are illegal except those expressly authorised by the Government under the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108) (i.e. authorised horse racing, authorised football betting and the Mark Six Lottery), those licensed by the public officers appointed by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs (e.g. mahjong parlours) and those exempted under Section 3 of the Gambling Ordinance (mainly social gambling).

Betting and Lotteries Commission

The Betting and Lotteries Commission is a statutory body established in accordance with the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108). Details of the terms of reference and membership of the Commission are as follows :

Terms of reference

To advise the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs on the following aspects -

1. regulation of the conduct of horse race betting, football betting and lotteries in accordance with the provisions of the Betting Duty Ordinance and the licensing conditions;
2. compliance with the licensing conditions by the licensees;
3. handling of public complaints relating to the compliance of the licensing conditions by the licensees;
4. imposition of financial penalties on the licensees; and
5. issuance and revocation of horse race betting, football betting and lottery licences; and variation of the conditions of such licences.

Chairman

Mr YIP Chun-to, Adrian, B.B.S., M.H., J.P.

Members

Mr CHAN Chi-chiu, Henry, M.H., J.P.
Ms CHEUNG Lai-chu
Revd Canon Hon KOON Ho-ming, Peter Douglas, B.B.S., J.P.
Mr LAI Tat-shing
Ms LEE Shuk-wai, Anthea
Mr LING Ho-wan, Howard, M.H.
Ms TSUI Sau-yin, Vivian
Miss WAN Lai-sze, Iris
Mr WONG Hin-wing, M.H.
Ms WONG Pak-yan, Annie
Commissioner of Police or his representative
Permanent Secretary for Education or her representative
Director of Home Affairs or her representative

Meeting of the Commission

Submission of views on the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s proposals of additional horse race betting activities

The Betting and Lotteries Commission invites members of the public to submit views on the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s proposals of additional horse race betting activities. For details, please click here.

Complaints and comments

If you have any complaints and comments regarding the regulation of authorised betting and lotteries, please contact us through the following channels:

The Ping Wo Fund

The Government established The Ping Wo Fund in September 2003 to finance preventive and remedial measures to address the gambling-related problems. The Hong Kong Jockey Club has undertaken to donate to the Fund for the four-year period starting from 2023/24. The contribution is $45 million each year for the first two years and $50 million each year for the subsequent two years. The Fund also welcomes donations from the public. Members of the public can make donations through the following channels: (1) Direct deposit into The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited account number “502-407851-001”; or (2) Make cheques payable to “The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Incorporated – The Ping Wo Fund” and deposit them into the above bank account. For more details of the Fund and the programme schedules, please visit http://www.donotgamble.org.hk.

The major ambits of The Ping Wo Fund are to finance the following measures:

- research and studies into problems and issues relating to gambling;
- public education and other measures to prevent or alleviate problems relating to gambling;
- counselling, treatment and other remedial or support services for problem and pathological gamblers and those affected by them.

A Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee has been established to give advice on the use and application of the Fund. The membership of the Committee is as follows:

Chairperson

Ms LU Hai, B.B.S., M.H., J.P.

Ex-officio Members

Representative of Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs
Representative of Secretary for Education
Representative of Director of Social Welfare

Non-official Members

Mr KO Hiu-wing
Dr LAI Hor-yan, Angel
Mr LAM Tsz-hung
Ms LEE Ching-yee, Janet
Miss LI Ka-yan
Miss LI Ka-ying
Mr NG Chak-hang, Matthew
Dr POON Yin-kwong, Johannes
Mr Cliff TANG Wing-chun
Mr WONG Ting-hong
Ms ZHANG Ti

Meeting of the Advisory Committee

Research and studies on gambling-related issues and problems

We have commissioned academic institutes to conduct research and studies on Hong Kong People's participation in gambling activities. (for report, press here ).

Counselling and treatment as well as other remedial services for gamblers with gambling disorder

Four dedicated counselling and treatment centres for gamblers with gambling disorder financed by The Ping Wo Fund are being operated by Caritas, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Zion Social Service Limited and Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service respectively. The first two centres operated by Caritas and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals commenced service since October 2003 whereas the two other centres operated by Zion Social Service Limited and Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service commenced service in 2007 and 2010 respectively. The four centres also provide gambling counselling hotline service (telephone number: 1834 633).

The four centres provide specialised counselling and treatment services for gamblers with gambling disorder and their family members. The four centres will also facilitate the development of the best practices for remedial services and screening of gamblers with gambling disorder in Hong Kong, and collect data and statistics for the sake of enhancing understanding about the behaviour and risk factors of gamblers with gambling disorder.

Project i-Change: a new stepped-care-approach for problem gamblers

The Project i-Change, which features a virtual counsellor, is a pilot project funded by the Ping Wo Fund and operated by Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service – Hong Kong with an aim to fill the gap of existing operation hours of counselling services by providing simulated counselling support service to problem gamblers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As an artificial intelligence computer programme developed by a team of multi-disciplinary versatile professionals, the virtual counsellor serves as an initial contact point to offer preliminary advice and encourage problem gamblers for further telephone and face-to-face counselling.

• Project i-Change (Chinese Version Only)

Ping Wo Fund Sponsorship Scheme

The Ping Wo Fund Sponsorship Scheme, administered by the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee, aims to provide sponsorship to community organisations to organise public education activities to prevent and alleviate gambling-related problems.

Ping Wo Fund Sponsorship Scheme 2023-24 is inviting for applications and the application closing date is extended to 6 October 2023 (Friday). For details, please refer to the Guide to Application.

Ping Wo Fund School Project Grants

The sponsorship to 55 schools under the Ping Wo Fund School Project Grants 2023-24 has been approved for organising educational projects that aim at educating students about the harm of gambling and correct financial management concepts, cultivating positive values and raising self-esteem among them. The result of the School Project Grants 2023-24 (Chinese version only) is as follows:

- Result of the School Project Grants 2023-24 (Chinese version only)

According to the Guide to Application, the successful applicant schools are required to submit the duly completed Evaluation Report together with two photos showing that the approved grants had been used in organising projects that are related to prevention and alleviation of gambling-related problems to the Secretariat (Address: 13/F, West Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong) within one month upon completion of the projects. If the photos could not show the relevance, the successful applicants must supplement in writing or provide other proofs to show how the approved projects have met the objectives of School Project Grants.

- 2023-24 Evaluation report (DOC)

(You need to use Acrobat Reader to read the above PDF format document files. Acrobat Reader can be downloaded in here.)