Crown Resorts is ‘unfit’ to hold casino licence in Perth, royal commission finds

The James Packer-backed gaming group has two years to get its Perth casino into order after the WA Royal Commission found it was not suitable to hold the state’s gaming licence.

The Crown complex near Perth. Picture: Tony McDonough

Crown Resorts looks set to emerge from the West Australian royal commission into its Perth casino largely unscathed, despite the inquiry finding it was not suitable to hold the state’s casino ­licence.

The royal commission followed the lead of earlier inquiries in NSW and Victoria, resisting the temptation to strip Crown of its licence, instead giving the company two years to get the ­casino in order.

Crown has been following its own “remediation plan” since its governance issues came to prominence in 2021, including sweeping changes of its board and executive ranks.

There will, however, be some changes to rules on the casino floor if recommendations for new betting limits and time restrictions on electronic gaming mach­ines are adopted.

The commission recommended reducing the maximum bet size for the machines to $10, while patrons would be required to take a 15-minute break from gambling every three hours and gamble for no more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period.

Gamblers will be limited to no more than 28 hours a week on an electronic gaming machine, compared with a 36 hour a week limit in Victoria.

Those recommendations followed the commission’s finding that Crown had fallen “well short” of expectations in how it minimised the risk of problem gambling. “Consequently, some of Perth Casino’s patrons have suffered considerable and avoidable harms as a result of their gambling,” the commission said.

“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 royal commission was called after revelations that hundreds of millions of dollars had been laundered through the Perth casino by Asian criminal syndicates working as so-called junket operators.

Crown, which in February agreed to an $8.9bn takeover offer from private equity giant Blackstone, has stopped the practice of accepting junket operators.

The inquiry’s report said it had identified numerous deficiencies in the casino’s regulator, the Gaming and Wagering Commission, which sits within WA’s Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

The inquiry examined the close ties and conflicts of interest between personnel at the regulator and their counterparts at the casino, as well as changes in practice and procedure that had reduced scrutiny of casino operations. “As a consequence of the way in which (it) is constituted and the often inadequate support it receives from the department, the Gaming and Wager­ing Commission has failed to identify its strategic objectives, organise itself to be a vigilant and modern casino regulator and garner resources to ensure it meets strategic objectives,” the report said.

The 991-page report containing 57 recommendations was ­tabled in WA’s parliament on Thursday morning.

WA Gaming Minister Tony Buti said it was clear from the report that there were deficiencies in both the state’s casino and the state’s gambling regulator.

“The Perth Casino royal commission has shown West Australians, including thousands of hardworking Crown employees, they deserve better from its casino operator and from its governance,” he said.

Mr Buti said he was not concerned about what future gambling restrictions proposed by the commission could mean for the state’s share of revenues from the casino. “My concern is to have a viable casino operator who will act in a responsible corporate manner,” he said.

“I believe you don’t have to have problem gamblers to make the casino profitable.”

Crown managing director Steve McCann said in a statement the company would work co-­operatively and constructively in relation to the findings and recommendations. “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.

“Crown remains committed to continuous improvement across all facets of the business and is prioritising the delivery of safe, responsible gaming across all of our resorts, including Crown Perth.”

The United Workers Union, which represents staff across the Crown complex, said workers were relieved that their jobs were safe. UWU casino director Dario Mujkic said there was an opportunity to improve the safety and sustainability of the casino as regulations were updated.

Shares in Crown closed 2.9c higher at $12.50 each.

Originally published as Crown Resorts is ‘unfit’ to hold casino licence in Perth, royal commission finds