What Crown’s special manager said in his latest report on the gaming giant
As it fights to prove its suitability to hold a Victorian casino licence, a government appointed has told the company to lift its game over public complaints.
Crown Resorts has been told that the way it handles complaints needs “considerable improvement” as it fights to prove its suitability to hold a Victorian casino licence.
Stephen O’Bryan KC - the special manager the Andrews government appointed to oversee Crown Melbourne following the Victorian royal commission’s damning findings into the group - has released his third 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 report, Mr O’Bryan said: “An area that needs considerable improvement is Crown’s approach to handling complaints to ensure any concerns raised by customers and other members of the public are properly recorded, considered, and responded to”.
“An audit by Crown to identify how its public complaints handling policies, systems and practices can be improved will be independently monitored and assessed by the OSM (Office of the Special Manager),” Mr O’Bryan said.
His report comes a week after Federal Court judge Michael Lee questioned Crown’s contrition over countless historic breaches of anti-money laundering laws when ruling on a $450m fine against the company from the financial crimes regulator.
Crown has also paid $350,000 to the commonwealth in contrition after it underpaid hundreds of staff a total of $1.2m during the six years to June 2020. The company - which incorrectly identified some of its employees as award-free - has fully remediated more than $1.2m including superannuation, plus an additional 10 per cent made up of interest and gratuity payment, to 192 current and former employees.
Mr O’Bryan said his office has also been monitoring the the implementation of key aspects of Crown’s broader integrity framework focussing on its code of conduct, whistleblower regime, anti-bribery and corruption measures, and public complaints handling systems.
He said Crown has enhanced its governance framework for handling whistleblower disclosures, including appointing a Whistleblower Protection Officer supported by an internal ‘Speak Up’ campaign designed to raise awareness of whistleblower processes and protections, and to build confidence for employees to raise concerns.
“Crown’s code of conduct and related policies and procedures must be reinforced through active leadership and ongoing education and training to support employees to act consistently with the values and ethical standards the community has a right to expect of a licensed casino operator.
“The OSM’s assessment of Crown’s work on strengthening its integrity framework will continue, including to evaluate whether Crown establishes sound governance and resourcing to effectively drive anti-bribery and corruption prevention work across the organisation.”
Mr O’Bryan has completed three six monthly reports into Crown’s reform program. He will submit his final assessment in January, which we play a “key role” in the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission’s decision on whether the company is suitable to hold a Victorian casino licence.
Crown Melbourne chief executive Mike Volkert said: “Throughout the reporting period we have introduced sweeping reforms as part of the company’s Future Crown transformation program and invested tens of millions to improve our governance, culture, financial crime compliance and responsible gambling practices”.
“We remain committed to working constructively with Stephen O’Bryan KC and his team over the remaining term of their appointment,” Mr Volkert said.
Crown is obligated to implement longer-term reforms to prevent gambling harm and crime at the casino. Under the Victorian government’s reforms, Crown must include a mandatory pre-commitment scheme, a new responsible gambling code of conduct, and restrictions on the use of cash at the casino by December 2025.
Crown, which US private equity firm took over for $8.9bn last year, was allowed to open the gaming floor of its new casino in Barangaroo by the NSW gaming regulator last August. But most of its operating conditions were not disclosed, with the regulator’s chair Philip Crawford citing commercial in confidence.
Last week, following the Federal Court’s decision on its $450m fine from Austrac, Crown chief executive Ciarán Carruthers said the judgement “brings to an end the historical AML/CTF (anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing) failures at Crown”.
“Under new ownership and leadership, we have introduced sweeping reforms as part of our Future Crown transformation program and invested tens of millions to bolster financial crime compliance and embed global best practice for the gaming sector,” Mr Carruthers said.
“There is no place for money laundering or terrorism financing at Crown or in our communities.”
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