The Norwegian government has unveiled a comprehensive four-year action plan aimed at preventing and treating problem gambling.
Covering the period 2026 to 2029, the plan emphasised, launched on friday, compiles coordinated prevention campaigns, enhanced treatment services, and an expanded research agenda.
The measures were explicitly non-regulatory. They will concentrate on enhancing public information, increasing treatment capacity, and building an evidence base rather than altering legal gambling access, age restrictions, or betting limits.
The principal goal of the action plan, the government said, was to minimise the number of individuals developing gambling-related problems. Government authorities stressed that protecting vulnerable individuals should take precedence over commercial interests.
Children and young people aged 9 to 25 were identified as the core target group, as studies had linked those aged 12 to 17 in particular, to gambling-style activities like using loot boxes and skins in video games.
Other groups were also in the spotlight. Athletes, people in custody, individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions, those outside education or employment, and individuals with prior gambling issues were also included as a focus point in the programme.
Preventions for child gambling
Key prevention measures in the programme focused on school and club outreach for youngsters and digital campaigns and guidance for adults.
The action plan delineated clear responsibilities among key agencies; Lotteritilsynet (Gambling Authority), Medietilsynet (Media Authority), and Helsedirektoratet (Directorate of Health).
The Norwegian Film Institute and several voluntary organisations will partner in outreach pertaining to gaming culture and support services.
Educational programmes for schools, youth and sports clubs would be used to help youths understand gambling-like elements in digital games.
It said it would distribute prevention materials via popular youth-focused online portals (e.g., ung.no, snakkomspill.no) and social media platforms. This included targeted campaigns for 16 to 25-year-olds about risks and legal aspects of gambling.
Tools and training for identifying early warning signs of gambling harms will be distributed. This would be for parents, educators, coaches, healthcare professionals, probation and prison staff, employers, and bank employees.
The plan also prioritised enhancing existing low-threshold services. This included the expansion of Hjelpelinjen, Norway’s gambling problem helpline, with improved accessibility including chat services tailored to younger audiences.
It would also continue to offer free, remote, typically 12-week telephone-based treatment programmes that do not require general practitioner referrals.
The plan would be integrated with Norway’s broader digital youth policies, including recent screen-time guidance and strategies addressing addiction and suicide prevention, underpinning the government’s framing of gambling harm as a public health and consumer protection priority.
Prison system focus
The government said it would seek improved national coordination by integrating gambling harm more prominently within broader public health frameworks. Dialogue between the Directorate of Health and regional competence centres (KORUS) is expected to be intensified to extend reach into municipal and local services.
The plan committed to raising further awareness among crtiical public service roles including prison staff and healthcare providers, to help them develop expertise to identify and treat gambling problems among inmates, who frequently accumulate debts during incarceration.
Ongoing data gathering will continue, including regular surveys on gambling and gaming participation by Lotteritilsynet and Medietilsynet, alongside the introduction of a new nationwide survey focused specifically on gambling and gaming problems.
The plan further encouraged collaboration with regulated gambling operators via an annual forum to reinforce responsible gaming obligations.
Notably, cooperation with banks and financial institutions would be intensified to curb financial flows to unlicensed foreign gambling providers. Front-line bank staff could receive training to identify customers exhibiting signs of gambling-related harm.
The monopoly problem
This renewed focus on prevention and public health comes amid heightened scrutiny of state-owned operator Norsk Tipping, which retains a monopoly over regulated online gambling in Norway.
Recent incidents have raised questions about the robustness of its systems and player protection safeguards. These include a technical error that led to incorrect lottery payouts and a separate Eurojackpot-related issue that exposed weaknesses in internal controls, prompting regulatory attention and financial penalties.
Additionally, concerns have been raised over development and operational quality, with reports highlighting shortcomings in Norsk Tipping’s platform performance and user experience.
These developments intensified debate over whether Norway’s monopoly model is sufficiently resilient to meet its consumer protection objectives.
