Casino oversight would be more effective if regulators were not also regulating liquor, the political environment was not so amenable to the casinos, and regulators had a clear remit to be the tough cop on the beat, according to former regulators.

The call to rethink gambling regulation came after the Bergin inquiry into Crown’s application for a NSW gambling licence found shortcomings in NSW regulatory design, with claims regulators had too broad a remit and did not have dedicated agency resources.