Star Entertainment has been fined A$10 million in New South Wales after the state's casino regulator found four disciplinary and regulatory breaches at The Star Sydney. The NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) said the penalties stem from four separate orders relating to the venue. Casino.org described The Star Sydney as Australia's second-largest casino after Crown Melbourne.
This matter concerns a licensed, land-based casino. Online casino services remain prohibited in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
The four breaches
According to the NICC, the penalties break down as follows:
- A$1.5 million for allowing customers to gamble continuously without a break longer than the prescribed limits. NSW casino rules limit a gambler to no more than 12 hours of play in every 24 hours. The NICC said one player at The Star Sydney gambled for more than 36 hours straight. - A$3 million for allowing at least 1,898 customers to convert their rewards points into cash. - A$500,000 for allowing an excluded person to gamble on nine occasions. - A$5 million for what the regulator called "systemic failures" in the casino's financial crimes risk operations.
The four amounts add up to the A$10 million total. The source does not give further detail on how the rewards-points conversions occurred, how long they continued, or how the excluded person gained access.
Enforceable undertaking on financial crimes controls
The A$5 million penalty for financial crimes risk failures comes with an "enforceable undertaking". It requires The Star Sydney to establish a A$5 million account to meet its regulatory obligations to upgrade its financial crimes risk department. The source does not say how the account is to be funded or administered, or over what period.
The NICC said the infractions largely came before Bally's rescued the company in April 2025. Bally's acquired a 56.7 per cent stake in Star through a A$300 million strategic capital investment, according to the report.
Regulator's comments
NICC Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford said the commission had seen progress under new leadership, while also noting that the casino's recent compliance history had counted against it. He said the NICC was confident that revised remediation workstreams, the expertise of Bally's Corporation and technology upgrades since the breaches had materially improved The Star's remediation progress.
"Imposing these fines along with the enforceable undertaking reiterates the seriousness with which the NICC considers any breaches that leave customers vulnerable to gambling harm or casinos vulnerable to criminal infiltration," Crawford said.
The regulator's assessment of improvement is its own view. The source material does not include independent verification of The Star's remediation progress.
A history of penalties
The latest fines are not the first against the operator. Casino.org reported that previous penalties include A$200 million in fines in 2022 from the NSW and Queensland governments. Those followed state inquiries that found The Star unsuitable to hold casino licences, on claims that its casinos failed to protect against money laundering.
According to the report, the government investigations found that Star Sydney, Star Brisbane and Star Gold Coast did little to safeguard their gaming floors from being used to launder dirty money. As a result, the casinos were described as rife with people tied to organised crime. Star was also accused of marketing to and catering for high rollers with alleged links to criminal enterprises.
The source does not say whether Star or Bally's has responded to the latest fines, nor whether any further regulatory action is pending.