New South Wales casino regulators have to pay A$10 million in penalties on The Star Sydney and an additional A$5 million toward compliance and financial crime prevention.
The penalties are announced by the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC). The examination was conducted by 4 separate investigators led by Liquor and Gaming NSW in 2025.
The most crucial sanction is about shortcomings in the casino’s financial crimes. Regulators have found deficiencies in The Star’s customer risk assessment, as some patrons were not properly evaluated.
As a consequence, the casino received a A$5 million fine for systemic failures that took place from July 2023 and September 2025. As a remediation fund, a further A$5 million fine was placed to improve technology systems for detecting financial crimes.
The NICC has also imposed an A$3 million fine over a rewards program issue. It allowed more than 1.900 patrons to convert casino reward points into cash-equivalent benefits between 2018 and 2023.
Other penalties were focused on responsible gambling. The Star was fined A$1.5 million for letting patrons exceed mandatory gambling break limits between May 2024 to April 2025. Some players gambled nonstop for more than 36 hours.
Another A$500,000 penalty was issued for allowing an excluded patron to enter the casino on 9 separate occasions from February 2024 to May 2024.
NICC Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford believes that regulators have reported improvements at The Star.
More penalties were added to the list. In 2024, an operator was fined A$15 million following the second Bell Inquiry, which was investigating the company’s suitability to keep its casino licence after major laundering issues were unveiled.
The Star’s Sydney licence is currently suspended, and casino operators work under the supervision of NICC-appointed manager Nick Weeks.
Alongside, the company is going through restructuring efforts after the A$300 million investment from Bally’s Corporation and Investment Holdings. They have secured a majority stake in The Star Entertainment Group.
The operators have reported a net loss surpassing A$75 million during the first half of 2026. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is seeking penalties against former CEO Matt Bekier with an A$1.3 million fine and a ban from the gambling industry.
