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Over 10 million dollars in fines have been handed to the Star Casino for allowing gambling ‘binges’ and breaching regulations on multiple occasions.

Despite 24-hour time limits, patrons were allowed to gamble for over 36-hours. The Casino also failed to vet patrons who held connections to criminal activity, allowing individuals who had been banned to enter the floor.

This comes following a 15 million dollar fine and license suspension in 2024 for compliance failures. The Star Casino was also issued a 100 million dollar fine in 2022 and a 150-million-dollar penalty in 2023.

Many of these actions were taken following breaches of laws covering anti-money laundering and ASIC concerns regarding counter-terrorism financing laws.

However, the Star Casino is only one aspect of regulation concerns when it comes to gambling in Australia. An examination of Australia’s gambling scene reveals greater, complex regulatory issues that are deepening the gambling crisis.

A Gambling Crisis

Over the 2022 – 2023 financial year, Australians lost $31.5 billion to the gambling industry, with losses sitting at approximately $1, 527 per Australian adult. These losses sat as the highest on record, despite a prevalent cost of living crisis.

“We’ve seen a massive surge in the number of people that are betting on sports and betting on phones. Roy Morgan research shows us that the rate at which this is growing in Australia is upwards of 40% a year”, stated Martin Thomas, CEO of Australia’s Alliance for Gambling Reform.

According to research, Martin says that poker machines are still our “worst loss”, but when looking at new trends, it is clear that online gambling is “absolutely surging”.

A rise in online gambling only exacerbates the collateral harm associated with gambling. The effects of gambling are known to extend to intimate partners, children, friends, and colleagues, too.

However, as Martin describes, children are increasingly being introduced to gambling themselves: “Unfortunately, it’s reaching our kids”, he stated.

“There’s a report saying kids as young as 14 on their social media feeds are receiving messages from gambling companies encouraging them to download gambling apps. So, there’s also a surreptitious campaign to get young people gambling.”

A Deakin University study released by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education in 2024 confirms this evidence, with gambling campaigns making young people increasingly likely to view gambling favourably.

What laws and regulations exist?

Presently, online gambling is regulated predominantly under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth). The Act prohibits online casino gaming and online poker, but does not prohibit online betting, seen largely in sports. Regulators vary from state to state and across different types of gambling. For example, Liquor and Gaming NSW is responsible for ‘policy, licensing and compliance’, whilst the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) regulates NSW Casinos, like the Star.

A major criticism of this regulation is the lack of a National Online Gambling Ombudsman. The ‘Murphy Report’, released in June 2023 titled ‘You win some, you lose more’ listed the establishment of a National Online Gambling Ombudsman as a recommendation (Recommendation 24). Whilst the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) responds to complaints under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, an Ombudsman is yet to be established.

The ‘You win some, you lose more’ report listed another 30 recommendations to further regulate the issue, including a comprehensive ban on advertising for online gambling (Recommendation 26), and a verification for customer identities before the commencement of online gambling (Recommendation 15).

Despite being released in 2023, gambling reforms were only announced in April 2026, and the report was only formally responded to in May 2026 by the Albanese Government.

Whilst Martin approved of the government responding, he noted that it had taken more than a thousand days to respond to and act on the inquiry. He also noted limitations to the reforms, including a failure to ban all gambling advertising, which was “a clear recommendation”.

“There’s an Australian Institute report that shows kids aged 12 to 17, so underage- 600,000 of them gambled last year, and [they] gambled 18 million dollars.”, Martin stated, “So clearly the system’s broken and kids are being exposed to gambling advertising”.

Reforms are to commence on January 1, 2027, with the Government stating the reforms ‘will minimise children’s exposure to gambling’ and ‘crackdown on dodgy operators’.

Harm Reduction

As this national problem persists, both communities and parents can take steps to reduce harm and increase awareness.

BetStop offers a way for individuals to add themselves to a national self-exclusion register for online and phone gambling providers. Once a user registers, they cannot place a bet, open new accounts or receive marketing messages.

Individuals are also able to set up a gambling block with their bank. Most major Australian banks offer support to combat problem gambling, allowing cardholders to limit or prevent transactions.

Martin urges families and communities to talk more about the issue, especially to children: “We’ve had campaigns around having conversations with your kids about social media… we need to extend that to gambling”. He encourages parents to learn more about the issue and seek support where needed from helplines and other available resources: “There’s no reason why we should have the worst gambling losses in the world”.

Further Resources

If this story has raised concern for you or someone you know, please reach out to the services below.

National Gambling Helpline (GambleAware) – 1800 858 858

Gambling Help Online – Gambling Help Online | Gambling Help Online