South Australia becomes latest state to launch casino probe

Regulatory clouds have gathered over Australia’s casino and gaming sector with South Australia’s Liquor and Gambling watchdog now becoming the latest to initiate a review of one of its casino operators in the state.

Commenting on the latest regulatory action, which targets SkyCity Casino, Liquor and Gaming Commissioner Dini Soulio explained in a press release that the recent inquiries into New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, and Victoria have prompted South Australia to also take a closer and harder look at the way some of its most prominent casino operators work and whether they have been upholding the highest standards for AML and CTF.

Soulio explained that all inquiries have discovered significant shortcomings, naming Crown Resorts and Crown Casinos as an example, but also mentioning the ongoing investigation into Star Entertainment Group which is currently under the microscope in New South Wales as well.

These inquiries though have not discovered incidental faults within those casinos, but rather a deeper, "systematic" problem Soulio argued. He is right as indeed New South Wales and Queensland have announced a number of changes they will enact in order to make the gambling industry fairer and more transparent.

NSW confirmed that it is introducing a new regulator or the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC). The state also sought to successfully pass a change to its point of consumption tax only last month.

Queensland on the other hand passed sweeping gamblingindustry reforms while also opening an investigation into Star Entertainment Group. All of this has prompted the South Australian regulator to appoint the Honorable Brian Martin AO QC who will take a look at SkyCity and seek to find out whether the operator is still suitable to hold a license in the state.

Martin is a highly-trained professional, Soulio assured, who will be able to conduct a fair review and be able to interpret and apply the law to the casino’s operations. Soulio said that the state put its trust in Martin to conduct this review and that he would be able to determine whether the Adelaide Casino is actually sticking to the mandated industry standards in the first place.

The Liquor and Gambling Commissioner should hear from Martin by February 1, 2023, which means that the inquiry into SkyCity is set to continue over the next six months. Elsewhere, the Star Entertainment Group’s probe is still ongoing with regulators looking intopotential failings in the way the casino has processed customer payments.

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