The Perth Casino Royal Commission has found Crown is not suitable to continue to hold a gaming licence.
Racing and Gaming Minister Tony Buti tabled an almost 1000-page report in parliament on Thursday, noting the commissioners had made 59 formal recommendations, which the government was considering in detail.
“The royal commission found that the Crown entities are not presently suitable to continue to hold the gaming licence for the Perth casino, or to be concerned in or associated with the organisation and conduct of the Perth casino operations,” Mr Buti said.
“The government accepts these findings.
“The royal commission details the remediation activities, which Crown would need to implement to become suitable, and recommends establishing an independent monitor to oversee those remediation activities.”
Mr Buti confirmed an independent monitor would be established.
In the report, the commissioners noted “a lot has changed, mainly for the better” since a similar report was handed down in Victoria in October 2021.
The failures at Perth Casino include:
- Facilitating money laundering through the Riverbank accounts;
- Failing to have an effective anti-money laundering program to ensure suspicious financial transactions were detected, reversed and reported to authorities;
- Permitting junkets with links to criminals to operate;
- Failing to minimise casino gambling-related harm; and
- Failing to be open and accountable in communications with the Gaming and Wagering Commission about multiple matters, including allegations made in the media about the arrest in 2016 of China-based staff.
Like the Victorian inquiry, the WA royal commission focused on the risk of gambling-related harm.
“Our inquiries have revealed that Perth Casino’s efforts to ensure that risk was kept to a minimum, have fallen well short of what might reasonably be expected,” the commissioners said.
“Consequently, some of Perth Casino’s patrons have suffered considerable and avoidable harms as a result of their gambling.
“While Crown has begun taking steps to address its failings, it is at an early stage of the journey to comprehensively reform the harm minimisation framework at Perth Casino.”
The commissioners said the legislation by which Perth Casino was regulated was not fit for purpose and required replacement with a modern regulatory framework.
“The regulatory framework is anachronistic in that it is nearly 40 years old and was built on earlier forms of the same framework, which were developed without the experience or understanding of modern casino gaming operations and the risks which they pose to the public,” they said.
“It was flawed from conception in that it failed to identify the legislative objectives of casino regulation and to clearly express the associated duties and powers of the regulator to meet those objectives.”
The commissioners further said there were “numerous deficiencies” in how the GWC had exercised its power and responsibilities regarding casinos.
“The department has contributed to these failures by not adequately supporting the Gaming and Wagering Commission,” they said.
Mr Buti said the government accepted the need to overhaul the regulatory legislation, including increased powers and penalties, and to improve the GWC’s resources.
“The government will move quickly on priority reforms, including giving the minister improved powers to direct the GWC to take immediate steps to mitigate risks associated with casino gaming operations,” Mr Buti said.
The governance and effectiveness of relevant departments and the GWC would also be improved, he added.
But he also noted the gaming giant and the department had already done “substantial” remediation work.
In a statement, Crown’s managing director and chief executive officer Steve McCann said the company would review the report and “work cooperatively and constructively” with the state government.
“Significant progress has been made with Crown’s transformation program, the implementation of company-wide reforms, and establishing the highest standards of governance,” he said.
“This includes investment in people, systems, processes, culture and a sharp focus on responsible gaming and the prevention of financial crime.
“Crown remains committed to continuous improvement across all facets of the business and is prioritising the delivery of safe and responsible gaming across all of our resorts, including Crown Perth.”
Billionaire and major shareholder James Packer told the royal commission during one of its hearings that he did not attend a single board meeting of Crown Perth’s Burswood Ltd between 2013 to 2016 after he moved overseas.
Mr Packer also conceded there were many “things that should have been done differently” at Crown Perth.
The Bergin inquiry in NSW in 2020 found Crown had “enabled or facilitated” money laundering at its Perth and Melbourne casinos.
Crown was then denied a gaming licence for its new Sydney casino.
But the company kept its Melbourne licence on a two-year effective “probation” basis after the Victorian royal commission.
