Star Sydney cops $10M penalty
The Star Sydney has been handed a $10 million fine by the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC), with the penalties centred largely on the venue's failure to adequately manage financial crime risk across a period spanning nearly seven years.
Star Entertainment Group is separately contending with an Austrac enforcement proceeding that could result in penalties of up to $400 million for money laundering contraventions — one of the most significant compliance challenges in the Australian hospitality and gaming sector in recent times.
The fines cover a range of failures uncovered during regulatory review, including systemic shortfalls in financial crime risk management between July 2023 and September 2025, which attracted the heaviest single penalty of $5 million.
Investigators also found the casino allowed patrons to gamble beyond prescribed time limits, with some guests at the tables for more than 36 consecutive hours. This resulted in a further $1.5 million penalty. A $3 million sanction was issued over the conversion of casino reward points to cash, which allowed members to redeem points against travel costs including airfares. An additional $500,000 was levied after an excluded patron was found to have entered the property on nine separate occasions.
Beyond the cash penalties, Star Sydney has entered into an enforceable undertaking committing a further $5 million toward upgrading its financial crime risk management technology infrastructure.
The group has undergone significant structural change following a $300 million rescue deal finalised in late 2025, which handed majority ownership to a partnership between US gaming giant Bally's Corporation and Australian pub and pokies interests, the Mathieson family. Bruce Mathieson Jnr was appointed chief executive in December of that year.
Responding to the penalties, Mathieson said: "We take our obligations to abide by gaming regulations seriously and appreciate that the NICC has allowed us to pay these penalties progressively up until 30 June, 2027 while we continue to invest in our technology uplift. These events occurred between December 2018 and September 2025 and prior to the commencement of the current leadership."
NICC chief commissioner Philip Crawford acknowledged the scale of the breaches while pointing to tangible improvement under the venue's new management.
Crawford said "while these disciplinary matters are disappointing, we have seen considerable progress at The Star under their new leadership," adding that the regulator was confident that "the revised remediation workstreams, the expertise of Bally's Corporation and the technological uplift that has taken place since these breaches occurred have made a materially significant improvement in The Star's remediation progress."
Crawford also made clear the fines were not merely administrative, stating that "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."
The regulatory scrutiny comes alongside separate proceedings initiated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) against former Star chief Matt Bekier, with Federal Court judge Michael Lee having found Bekier breached his duties. ASIC sought a $1.3 million penalty and an eight-year ban from managing companies.
Jonathan Jackson, 3rd June 2026
