Odinian Beta

It has been a bad year for Australian gambling behemoth Crown Resorts, owner of casinos in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and London.

First, the inquiry in New South Wales led by Commissioner Patricia Bergin SC found that Crown Resorts and its associates weren’t suitable to continue to give effect to the licence for the VIP-only Crown Sydney casino.

As a result, the $2.2bn casino has been banned from opening its gaming areas until Crown Resorts has reformed itself and complied with the various recommendations (read: directives) of the Bergin Inquiry.

Nevertheless, should Crown Resorts prove that it has reformed itself sufficiently, it appears ILGA, the NSW regulator, will allow the company to fully open Crown Sydney in due course, perhaps by the end of calendar 2021.

More inquiries

However, due to Bergin’s findings – and pressured by anti-gambling campaigners in the media and in politics – both Victoria and Western Australia subsequently announced Royal Commissions.

These Royal Commissions will determine whether Crown and its associates remain suitable to hold the licences for Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth, respectively.

The Royal Commission into Crown Perth has been somewhat of a damp squib, but the Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne has been hitting Crown hard.

Led by former Federal Court Judge Raymond Finkelstein QC, the Victorian Royal Commission has revealed further details regarding allegations of money laundering occurring at Crown Melbourne, while also hearing allegations that Crown may have underpaid casino taxes.

Responsible gaming

But it’s Crown’s efforts in promoting responsible gaming and its management of gambling addiction – or more accurately, its alleged failures thereof – that are getting the most heat from the Commissioner.

Responsible gaming has been in Finkelstein’s sights since the Commission began earlier this year. As the Commissioner noted:

“It is accepted gambling generates significant benefits … [it] employs many people … gambling taxation … currently accounts for around 12 per cent of state generated taxes. At the same time, gambling has major adverse impacts on the community.”

He added:

“There are 300,000 Australians with a gambling problem, accounting for a third of all losses worth about $3.5bn”.

“The impact of this problem gambling is widespread — it affects not only the gambler, but the gambler’s family, employers and unrelated third parties.”

So it’s no surprise that there have been various harrowing stories of problem gamblers told during the hearings.

Whether it is an individual who lost $300,000 in two months gambling at Crown Melbourne, another customer punting for 96 hours straight without any employee trying to get them to stop, or another who was allowed to gamble for “only” 34 hours straight, the stories certainly appear damaging to Crown.

And they make great fodder for the media that seems to love supporting anti-gambling activists.

Yet while the stories that the Commission has heard are tragic, they don’t alter the fact that the vast majority of Australians don’t have gambling problems. Moreover, even amongst problem gamblers these stories seen to be the exceptions rather than the rule, and viewed in isolation, paint a picture of what goes on at Crown Melbourne that isn’t necessarily accurate.

Will Crown lose its licence in Victoria?

But will Crown nevertheless lose its Melbourne licence as a result of its apparent failure to successfully promote responsible gaming, at least in certain circumstances?

I doubt it.

Let’s assume that the Royal Commission finds Crown Melbourne and its various associates unsuitable to hold the casino licence. Let’s also assume that the Commission also finds that it is not in the public interest for Crown Melbourne to continue to hold the casino licence in Victoria.

If so, the Terms of Reference require the Commissioner to make recommendations on the action(s) required to again make Crown Melbourne suitable and for it to be in the public interest for Crown Melbourne to continue to hold the casino licence in Victoria.

This is very similar wording to the Terms of Reference for the Bergin Inquiry in New South Wales. As noted above, despite the various findings of the Bergin Inquiry, it appears highly likely that Crown will be permitted to open the gaming areas of Crown Sydney in due course.

Barring something extraordinary being revealed over the remainder of the Victorian Royal Commission, I expect a similar outcome in relation to Crown Melbourne.