Is Online Gambling Legal in Queensland? Updated June 2026
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Star shareholders subsequently approved the takeover, providing the company with a path to continued operations under new ownership. In Star’s case, voluntary administration was ultimately avoided when Bally’s Corporation — an American casino operator — agreed on April 7, 2025 to acquire a 56.7% controlling stake through a multi-tranche subordinated debt arrangement. The company’s Star Sydney licence was already under suspension, making the regulatory path for any buyer complex and time-consuming. Once appointed, administrators have broad powers over the company’s assets and operations. Voluntary administration is a formal insolvency procedure under Australian corporate law in which an independent administrator takes control of a financially distressed company to assess its options. Online sports betting is widely available from operators licensed in any Australian jurisdiction, though retail wagering is a monopoly held by Tabcorp. It agreed in April 2025 to take a 56.7% controlling stake in Star Entertainment through a multi-tranche subordinated debt structure.
In any administration scenario, these amounts would have been treated as unsecured creditor claims, sitting behind secured lenders, employees, and regulatory creditors. The company used Australia’s “safe harbour” provisions — designed to allow directors to pursue restructuring without personal liability for insolvent trading — while racing to secure a refinancing deal. For much of early 2025, the spectre of voluntary administration loomed over Star Entertainment. Queensland’s inquiry mirrored these findings for the Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane properties.
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.
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.
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 australia payid‘), 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.
Both states maintained regulatory oversight rather than forcing immediate closure. In Queensland, Star was fined AU$100 million and faced a 90-day licence suspension that was repeatedly deferred pending remediation. In NSW, The Star Sydney’s licence was suspended following both the 2022 and 2024 Bell Inquiry findings of unsuitability. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) actively blocks unlicensed offshore casino sites. It is important to note that under Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001, offshore online casino sites are prohibited from offering services to Australian residents.
While Star’s casinos continue to operate under Bally’s ownership, the instability of recent years has prompted many to explore alternatives. When regulators finally acted — following investigative journalism that exposed Crown Resorts first, then focused attention on Star — the company was found to have been running these practices for years. Star’s loyalty programme — Star Rewards — allows members to accumulate points through gaming, dining, and hotel stays.
The overall corporate entity avoided formal voluntary administration after Bally’s Corporation agreed to acquire a 56.7% controlling stake in April 2025. The Star’s casino properties in Sydney and the Gold Coast remained open throughout the crisis. For Australians who regularly visited Star’s properties or who are now navigating an uncertain transition period, the question of where to play is a practical one. The combination of shrinking revenue, soaring compliance costs, mounting regulatory fines, and a debt structure that gave little room for manoeuvre left Star unable to fund itself.
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.
