On September 20th, the Victorian Parliament passed extensive restrictions on the operations of Crown Melbourne in response to the recommendations made by the Royal Commission following its investigation into the operations of the Australian gambling giant. Under the new rules, the casino customers will be required to set limits on both the time and money spent at the gambling venue’s premises.
The Royal Commission inquiry found that Crown Resorts engaged in gambling laws violations, including links to foreign criminal organisations, facilitating money laundering, and other instances of exploitative and illegal behaviour.
Now, the Crown casino in Melbourne will be given until the end of 2023 to set the limitations under the provisions of the new piece of legislation that passed the upper house of the state’s Parliament on September 20th, a month after the bill was first introduced to local lawmakers. As revealed by the Victorian Parliament, the casino must introduce the entire range of changes included in the Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022 by December 2025, with the changes expected to allow the development of technology that is not available at the time.
As mentioned above, Crown Melbourne will be expected to implement a daily spending limit of AU$1,000 by the end of 2023 as part of the measures aimed at tackling money laundering, If a customer wants to spend more than the AU$1,000 24-hour limit, they will have to do so by using special casino-issued cards.
Crown Resorts Needs to Meet Requirements in Order to Keep Melbourne Operating Licence
The competent authorities announced that Crown Resorts will be stripped of its operating licence for its flagship casino in Melbourne automatically in 2023, unless it provides indisputable evidence that it has cleared up its wrongdoings after the Royal Commission’s inquiry found that it had engaged in exploitative, dishonest, illegal and unethical behaviour.
Royal Commissioner and former Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein noted that it was hard to imagine that such a well-known corporation could be involved in such an extensive catalogue of wrongdoings. At the time he issued his report, he found that Crown Resorts was unfit to hold its Melbourne casino operating licence. Still, he gave the Australian gambling giant two years to bring the necessary reforms to its operations because it was found that immediate closure of Crown Melbourne would cause significant harm to the entire economy of Victoria, as well as to thousands of workers.
A spokesperson for Crown Resorts explained that the casino operator had already made significant progress since the damning report of the Royal Commission was handed down.
The party of the Australian Greens Victoria described the piece of legislation passed by the state’s Parliament on September 20th as an important first step towards further changes in the local gambling sector. The leader of the party, Samantha Ratnam, noted that the Victorian Labour Government would have to introduce the aforementioned limits everywhere across the state, not just at Crown Resorts, if it took the minimisation of gambling-related harm seriously. According to her, now is the right time for the Government to stand up to the gambling industry and show who is in charge.
Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, noted that his cabinet supported the implementation of pre-gambling commitments on punters’ losses and times. He further explained that the state Government remains committed to providing the necessary regulatory framework and additional support for the residents of Victoria who find it difficult to control their gambling behaviour.
- Author
Daniel Williams
