Crown Resorts makes progresses on reform efforts as Victorian regulator to decide licence fate

Regulators in Victoria will decide by April if Crown is a suitable operator of a casino licence in the state after the special manager handed down his final report.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) will decide by April whether Crown Resorts will retain its licence in the state after the special manager overseeing the casino’s remediation activities lodged their final report to the regulator.

Stephen O’Bryan KC, the special manager appointed by the Victorian government to oversee Crown Melbourne following the Victorian royal commission’s damning findings into the group — released his four six month report into the company formerly backed by James Packer.

Mr O’Bryan has been tasked with testing Crown’s reform program after the group previously facilitated money laundering and organised crime – including sex slavery and human trafficking.

In his final report, Mr O’Bryan noted that while the findings of the final report were confidential, Crown had continued to progress a range of remediation activities in areas set out in response to the Finkelstein Report, as set out in its Melbourne Remediation Action Plan.

“Due to the legally and commercially sensitive nature of this work, the Special Manager is unable to publicly comment on how Crown is progressing on its reforms and efforts to return to suitability. The Special Manager’s evaluation of Crown’s reform efforts has been submitted in a confidential final report to the VGCCC and the Minister,” he said.

The VGCCC said in a statement to The Australian that after receiving Mr O’Byran’s report, the review will be finalised and announced to the public by mid-April.

“In considering whether Crown is suitable to hold the licence, the Commission will have regard to the Office of the Special Manager’s report and may also consider reports and findings of relevant regulators or law enforcement agencies,” a spokesman said.

Crown, which was sold to Blackstone for $8.9bn in May 2022, has been required to change the way the business operates in several areas if it wanted to be deemed a suitable operator of casino licence in Victoria. Changes have covered culture, service of gambling responsibilities and financial crime, governance and integrity frameworks.

Crown Melbourne chief executive Mike Volkert said the casino has worked diligently under new ownership and leadership to implement significant change including extensive reform in governance risk and compliance, financial crime detection, harm minimisation, and guest experience.

“This work is a sustainable foundation for Crown Melbourne and we are committed to continuous improvement and exceeding the expectations of our stakeholders,” he said.

Mr O'Bryan said that Crown also continued to strengthen its whistleblower management policy and processes and to promote “speak up” channels to its employees. In response to feedback, Crown had also improved the external accessibility of its whistleblower policy on its website.

“This is important because people in addition to current employees, directors and contractors – including former Crown team members, spouses and relatives, suppliers and other associates – may be eligible whistleblowers and afforded protections under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth),” he said.

Mr O’Bryan added that while Crown had been generally responsive to information requests, it has on occasion sought to limit the information provided, such as that subject to Commonwealth legislative secrecy requirements.

Victoria Casino, Gaming and Liquor Minister Melissa Horne said Mr O'Bryan had conducted his job rigorously and helped ensure abhorrent behaviour heard from the Royal Commission was not repeated.

“We have been clear — it’s incumbent on Crown to prove they are suitable to hold their license and there is no tolerance for this previous behaviour,” she said.

In December, customers were no longer able to gamble on gaming machines at the casino without using a casino-issued card, and without setting their own binding time and money limits through YourPlay as part of changes mandated.

Crown was found in 2019 to have been infiltrated by international criminal syndicates and money launderers, which started the Bergin inquiry in NSW. Since then, government inquiries in NSW, Victoria and WA have found that ruled it unfit to hold a casino licence.

Originally published as Crown Resorts makes progresses on reform efforts as Victorian regulator to decide licence fate