The Government of Victoria has unveiled moves aimed at minimising gambling-related harm at Crown Melbourne, including mandatory 15-minute breaks for its casino patrons.
Under the new requirements of the Government, casino customers who have been gambling for three hours straight will be forced to take a 15-minute break. Casino patrons who have been gambling for more than 12 hours in one day will be forced to take a 24-hour break. The new regulations will restrict casino patrons’ gambling to a maximum of 36 hours a week.
Melissa Horne, the Casino and Gaming minister of the state of Victoria, has explained that the measures are set to be released to address compulsive gambling at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. She noted that, according to some evidence provided by the Royal Commission, the casino operator acted extremely predatory toward people on the casino floor who had been clearly showing signs of problem gambling. The Royal Commission also noted that casino patrons who were in the poker machine rooms of the casino were the ones who were particularly targeted by the operator.
Now, the new rules mean that Crown Casino staff members would be given the power to turn people away in case they have not met the mandatory break requirements. According to Ms Horne, being able to encourage a casino patron to take a break from the gambling floor and keep them away from a potentially detrimental habit is another crucial step in the reduction of gambling-related harm.
Crown Resorts Already Hit by Regulatory Measures for Various Transgressions across Its Australian Casinos
As Casino Guardian previously reported, Crown Resorts’ operations have been subject to in-depth checks carried out by the 2021 Royal Commission, with the operator narrowly avoiding the loss of its casino licence.
As the Royal Commission unveiled, Crown Resorts facilitated a massive scale of money laundering on its premises as a result of its links to criminal organisations, and evaded paying millions of dollars in state taxes. The Australian gambling giant was also blamed for its failure to prevent some of its staff members from being jailed in China a few years ago and for ignoring responsible gambling laws.
In November 2022, the gambling regulatory body in the state of Victoria penalised Crown Melbourne after finding out that it had violated the state’s gambling laws for more than a decade and had also consistently failed to prevent vulnerable people from gambling for quite some time.
Now, the Australian gambling behemoth could face monetary penalties of up to AU$100 million in case it violates the new rules. The Casino, Gambling and Liquor Regulation Minister Melissa Horne noted that Crown Resorts must make everything possible to become a global leader in tackling gambling harm or could otherwise lose their operating permit. Ms Horne has reminded that the company was proceeding with the implementation of obligatory pre-commitment in all electronic gaming machines by the end of 2023.
- Author
Olivia Cole
