Star Sydney slapped with $10million fine for regulatory failures
The Star Sydney has been hit with $10 million in fines and ordered to set aside a further $5 million to strengthen its financial crime controls after regulators uncovered thousands of breaches spanning gambling harm, excluded patrons and anti-money laundering failures.
The NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) issued the penalties following four separate disciplinary matters referred by Liquor & Gaming NSW, with the most serious relating to systemic failures in The Star’s financial crime risk management operations.
Star Sydney was fined $5 million over financial crime compliance failures between July 2023 and September 2025 and directed to establish a dedicated $5 million remediation fund to improve technology used to identify and manage financial crime risks.
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Additional penalties included $3 million for allowing nearly 1,900 patrons to convert casino reward points into cash or reimburse travel expenses, $1.5 million for permitting customers to gamble beyond prescribed time limits, and $500,000 for allowing an excluded patron to enter the casino on nine occasions.
NICC said some gamblers were allowed to remain active for more than 12 hours within a 24-hour period, while more serious cases involved patrons gambling continuously for more than 36 hours.
The financial crime breaches included failures involving customer risk assessments, enhanced due diligence procedures and ongoing monitoring requirements, with some patrons not being properly assessed for potential links to money laundering or terrorism financing.
NICC Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford said many of the breaches occurred before significant remediation measures and technology upgrades had been implemented under the casino’s new leadership.
While acknowledging progress made since the Bell inquiries, Crawford said The Star’s recent compliance history had influenced the size of the penalties.
“Imposing these fines along with the enforceable undertaking reiterates the seriousness with which the NICC considers any breaches that leave customers vulnerable to gambling harm or casinos vulnerable to criminal infiltration,” he said.
The enforceable undertaking is the first issued by the NICC since legislative changes introduced the regulatory tool in 2022.
