About casino regulation and licensing NSW Government
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Star’s loyalty programme remained active through the Bally’s acquisition process. AUSTRAC was seeking a penalty of up to AU$400 million; Star argued any penalty above AU$100 million would push it into insolvency. For online gambling, Australians may legally use platforms licensed and regulated in their jurisdiction for sports betting and racing. Australians seeking online gambling options should verify the legal status of any operator before registering. When the Oaktree Capital rescue deal stalled over the NSW government’s refusal to grant rights over the Star Sydney land, the company’s options narrowed rapidly — until Bally’s stepped in. In the 2023–24 financial year, Star recorded AU$1.69 billion in losses, including a AU$1.44 billion write-down on casino assets.
Queensland has a mature gambling market with four major land-based casinos and widespread electronic gaming machines. The acquisition was approved by Star shareholders and means that Star’s three properties will now be managed under Bally’s corporate umbrella. Bally’s Corporation is a US-based casino and gaming company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As a precaution, it is advisable to redeem any accumulated points promptly rather than let them sit idle during a period of corporate transition.
The practical advice for affected members was — and remains — to redeem rewards points as soon as practicable when a company is in financial distress, and to review communications from Star and Bally’s as the ownership transition bedded down. However, members were advised to stay alert to any changes in programme terms, as new ownership frequently triggers a review and redesign of loyalty structures. Most players exchange cash or EFTPOS payments for chips at the point of play, meaning there is generally little risk of a deposit balance being trapped in an insolvency event for the typical player. In Star’s case, because voluntary administration was ultimately avoided, employees were not required to access this scheme, and casino operations continued without interruption. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli made clear that the government’s priority was the thousands of workers at the Gold Coast and Queen’s Wharf, not the company’s shareholders or executive structure.
Casino players in Australia are not, strictly speaking, depositors in the same way bank customers are. The Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) scheme provides a federal government safety net for workers who lose entitlements in insolvency events. Under Australian corporate law, employees are priority unsecured creditors in any administration or liquidation scenario, meaning their entitlements — including accrued wages, annual leave, and long service leave — rank ahead of most other creditors. With approximately 9,000 staff employed across its casinos, hotels, restaurants, and corporate functions, the question of what happened to Star’s workforce was one of the most pressing issues throughout the crisis. A new board was established, Bruce Mathieson Jr was appointed CEO, and the company moved to decentralise management by placing property-level CEOs at each of its three casinos. The three possible outcomes are a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) — allowing restructuring and continued trading — sale of the business as a going concern, or liquidation. The resulting AU$100 million fine in December 2022 was accompanied by a 90-day licence suspension — though that suspension was deferred multiple times to allow remediation, ultimately being pushed back to at least late 2024.
The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority has approved funds manager Blackstone’s suitability to hold a casino licence in NSW, paving the way for the company to become the operator of Crown Sydney casino. All jersey sponsorships, stadium signage, and field-of-play logo placements for wagering operators are completely illegal under national reforms. Existing points could still be redeemed, though members were advised to stay alert to any programme changes as the new ownership restructures the business. Operations continued under an external manager appointed by the NSW Independent Casino Commission. The cost of remediation, legal defence, and regulatory penalties then piled onto an already challenged business.
Work then started to redesign the regulatory structure of NSW casinos, with a view to introducing legislative changes to parliament in mid-2022. In August 2021 the Government agreed to support all 19 recommendations from the Bergin Inquiry Report on the regulation of casinos in NSW and the suitability of Crown Resorts to hold a restricted gaming licence. Both came through bruising regulatory inquiries; both now operate under enhanced compliance regimes. Australia’s metro casinos are run by two operators. The minimum legal age for all forms of regulated gambling in Queensland, including casinos, electronic gaming machines (‘pokies real money online‘), lotteries, and sports betting, is 18 years old. For recreational players, winnings from lotteries, sports betting, or casino games are considered the result of luck and are not subject to income tax in Australia. The rules operators must follow are on the operator page.
If a site isn’t on the regulator’s licensee register, it isn’t licensed locally. Anything else offered to you online is unlicensed and gives you no protection. Online casino and poker are prohibited under the federal Interactive Gambling Act 2001. He has personally assessed over 380 online casino platforms throughout his distinguished career. Vaughn Halstead is a prominent iGaming journalist with over 14 years of experience covering the Australian online casino market. AUSTRAC commenced Federal Court civil penalty proceedings against Star in November 2022, alleging serious and systemic failures to comply with Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.
This is separate from venue-based exclusion programs for pubs, clubs, and casinos. Registration is free and blocks you for a minimum of three months up to a lifetime. To self-exclude from all licensed Australian online and phone betting services, you must register with BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register.
The AU$3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development, while ambitious, had added to the company’s financing obligations. At the heart of Star’s downfall was a culture that prioritised revenue — particularly from high-rolling VIP and junket operators — over compliance with Australia’s strict anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Regulatory failures, a crippling debt load, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and intensifying competition all played roles. Players who had not redeemed accumulated points by the time any formal programme changes were announced may have seen their value adjusted or transferred to a successor scheme. Players with outstanding credits were encouraged to contact Star directly if they held balances at the time of the crisis. For players with tournament buy-in credits, promotional balances, or funds lodged in electronic gaming accounts, the situation was less clear-cut. Unlike regulated online gambling in some jurisdictions, Australian land-based casinos do not typically hold large pools of ring-fenced player funds.
