Crown Melbourne fined $2m by Victorian regulators for allowing 242 self-excluded gamblers to bet at casino

Victoria’s casino regulator has slapped Crown with a fresh fine after it allowed hundreds of self-excluded gamblers to place bets in recent months.

Crown Melbourne fined $2m for allowing 242 self-excluded gamblers to bet at casino. Picture : Penny Stephens/NCA NewsWire

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission has fined Crown Melbourne $2m for allowing hundreds of people who had self-excluded from gambling to place bets at its casino in the past year.

The regulator said 242 people were allowed to place bets at the casino over an eight-month period between October 2023 and May, until detected by ongoing monitoring of the casino’s operations.

It comes months Crown Resorts was deemed suitable to retain its gaming licence in Victoria following a review after findings of a 2021 Victorian royal commission that revealed the company facilitated money laundering and permitted people with links to organised crime syndicates to gamble at its premises.

VGCCC chair Fran Thorn said the breaches contravene Crown Melbourne’s obligation to protect people at risk of gambling harm.

“Those who self-exclude must be able to trust that gambling providers will take all reasonable steps to enforce their decision to avail themselves of this harm prevention initiative.

“By allowing people who have self-excluded to enter the casino and gamble, Crown has put them at risk of experiencing further gambling harm. However, it is also clear that a number of these self-excluded patrons are going to considerable lengths to avoid detection and break their exclusion requirements.”

The majority of instances were detected by Crown self-reported the identification of self-excluded patron breaches to the VGCCC as part of regular ongoing reporting. The commission determined the breaches were due to system and control failures rather than deliberate or egregious disregard by Crown of its regulatory obligations.

A Crown spokesman told The Australian that it continued to work with Victorian authorities to protect people at risk of gambling harm.

“Crown is committed to ensuring a safe and responsible gaming environment with a focus on guest wellbeing and harm minimisation,” the company said.

Crown has been issued with a direction to engage an independent expert to assess the effectiveness of, and make recommendations for improving, the management of its self-exclusion program. In due course, Crown will be required to implement the independent expert’s recommendations.

In April this year, the commission directed Crown Melbourne to implement a transformation plan to continue its reform and remediation following the findings of the Finkelstein Royal Commission.

“The commission acknowledges Crown has taken some steps to strengthen its controls for policing exclusion orders, and introduced measures to improve its monitoring activities, physical security, use of technology and training of staff,” Ms Thorn said.

Harm minimisation has been at the forefront of Crown’s transformation to be deemed acceptable to hold a licence in Victoria, including the implementation of initiatives such as the introduction of Mandatory Carded Play. This allows has allowed Crown to more effectively deter self-excluded persons from gambling undetected.

Crown has shaken up its executive team with veteran gaming executive David Tsai taken charge as acting chief executive last month following the departure of Irish-born Ciaran Carruthers who left after two years of being tasked with regaining favour with regulators and overhaul Crown’s financial performance.

Originally published as Crown Melbourne fined $2m by Victorian regulators for allowing 242 self-excluded gamblers to bet at casino