"I don't know who has bought it to the internal affairs attention but I got a phone call today telling me that all raffles must go or action would be taken. I am disappointed that the person who done this had no intention of bringing it up to us first, we are all trying to benefit through them for the sake of "affording'' things these days,'' (sic), she wrote.
The matter was brought to the attention of Community Legal Advice Whanganui by someone who was under the impression the organisation had given the raffle-holder incorrect advice.
Spokeswoman Bronwyn Rogers said she looked in to the matter and none of the staff at the agency had spoken to the raffle-holder.
She said she also spoke to principal of the school involved, who was "horrified'' at what had happened, and also told her that the school had not received any of the money.
Ms Rogers said the misconceptions around raffles was concerning, and needed to be addressed.
Internal Affairs warned the woman and explained to her the laws surrounding raffles.
A raffle was a type of lottery and to be legal, must be run by a society, established for purposes other than commercial reasons, to raise money for that society's authorised purpose, the spokesman said.
Under the Gambling Act 2003, that means a charitable, non-commercial purpose beneficial to the community.
Since the funds in this case were solely benefiting the one person and not a section or whole of the community, raising funds in this way was not legal.
A more appropriate way to raise money, would have been if the school was raising funds for all the children attending, he said.
The Internal Affairs spokesman said that to ensure a raffle was legal, people should make sure they were an authorised representative of a society and either consult the department's website, or call 0800 257 887 and ask to speak to a member of the gambling compliance team.
