Founding members of NSW Independent Casino Commission to retire
NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford and Commissioner Stephen Parbery will complete their time on the Commission and retire from the public service in November 2026, following a decade of service to the people of NSW.
Mr Crawford and Mr Parbery are both founding members of the NICC, which was established in September 2022 following the Bergin Inquiry. Their terms were due to finish in May, but were extended a further six months to ensure important remediation work at The Star Sydney is continued under the casino’s new ownership team and to provide a smooth transition to the new commissioners.
Prior to joining the NICC, Mr Crawford served the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) as chairperson and Mr Parbery as a board member.
Mr Crawford said he was immensely proud of the work he had achieved across the two leadership roles at both ILGA and the NICC after first being appointed by the NSW Government in 2016.
This has included commissioning three complex casino inquiries – Bergin, Bell One and Bell Two – and driving the essential reform of the NSW casinos which has involved the elimination of high-roller junkets, the obliteration of pronounced criminal activity and introduction of more scrutinised gambling harm protections.
“Together with our fellow commissioners, Stephen Parbery and I have worked tirelessly to power substantial and long-lasting reform across the NSW casino industry which has crucially lifted governance, compliance, financial crime prevention and harm minimisation standards,” Mr Crawford said.
“The results speak for themselves, with the casinos both recording a considerable reduction in criminal activity and gambling harms. There is no doubt NSW casinos are substantially safer and operate in a much more stable environment than they did prior to the inception of the NICC in 2022.”
Mr Parbery said the NICC’s approach to casino reform was now being mirrored by regulators in other jurisdictions all over the world.
“NSW is now recognised internationally for its contemporary approach to casino regulation and continues to attract interest from both interstate and international regulators seeking to better understand the important reforms we have worked hard to accomplish,” Mr Parbery said.
“We are incredibly optimistic about the NSW casino industry and the regulatory landscape we are handing over.”
The NSW Government is conducting an expression of interest process to fill the two Commissioner roles.
