Case Study: Health Promotion Agency achieves nationwide free gamified alcohol-server training and improved compliance with Kineo's ServeWise

Health Promotion Agency’s ServeWise game helps New Zealand servers navigate the grey areas of intoxication

The Health Promotion Agency (HPA), a New Zealand Crown entity focused on alcohol harm reduction, faced a nationwide training challenge after new legislation required around 100,000 sellers and servers of alcohol to be brought up to a consistent standard. Existing training was ad hoc, costly, hard to access and lacked motivation, so HPA partnered with Kineo and stakeholders (regulators, businesses and police) to design a single, industry‑trusted solution that would meet diverse workplace needs.

Kineo built ServeWise, a multi‑device gamified course on Totara that uses role selection, avatars, real‑life video and 3D scenarios, short modular activities and branched challenges to teach grey‑area decisions and core processes. Launched Feb 2016, the free course registered 3,677 users in its first year (1,381 completions, 1,340 actively working through), won a LearnX gold award, secured rollouts such as Progressive Enterprises’ 4,000 staff, and has driven improved compliance, strong industry buy‑in and potential reductions in alcohol‑related incidents.

Health Promotion Agency