Committee Details

COMMITTEE’S REPORT

The committee tabled its Report No. 67, 57th Parliament - Casino Control and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 on 2 February 2024. The Bill was passed in the Legislative Assembly on 20 March 2024.

About the Bill 

On 25 October 2023 Hon Yvette D’Ath MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, introduced the Casino Control and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 into the Queensland Parliament.  The Bill was referred to the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee for detailed consideration.   

View: Explanatory speech 
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

In October 2021, allegations of money laundering, breaches of laws, and links to organised crime were levelled against Star which, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates Treasury Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast casinos, and will, from early 2024, operate The Star Brisbane in the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane precinct. The allegations led the Queensland Government to subsequently appoint the Honourable Robert Gotterson AO KC in June 2022 to conduct a review of Star’s Queensland casino operations.

The Gotterson Review found Treasury Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast were being operated by their licensees in a way that was inconsistent with the achievement of the objectives of the Casino Control Act 1982 (Casino Control Act) by, among other things:

• allowing the illegal use of China Union Pay cards by patrons to fund gambling under the guise of accommodation expenses (and misleading the bank about the real nature of the China Union Pay transactions);
• having a deficient anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) program; and
• encouraging persons excluded at the direction of the Police Commissioners in New South Wales and Victoria to gamble at Treasury Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast.

Although the Review’s findings of impropriety related only to Star’s Queensland casino operations, the Review, in accordance with its terms of reference, made 12 recommendations to restore public confidence, enhance integrity and minimise the potential for gambling harm across all Queensland casinos.

The objectives of the Bill are to:

1. facilitate the implementation of Recommendations 1 to 11 of the External Review of the Queensland Operations of The Star Entertainment Group Limited (Star) which was led by the Honourable Robert Gotterson AO KC (‘Gotterson Review’); and
2. implement a range of other reforms to enhance the casino regulatory framework.

For more in-depth information on the above please refer to the explanatory notes for the Bill.

Further information

Further information including written briefings, correspondence, response to submissions, transcripts and answers to questions taken on notice are available under the ‘Related Publications’ tab.

Call for submissions

Submissions are now closed. Submissions can be accessed under the “View Submissions” tab above.

Timeline