AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jamie Nettleton, Samuel Gauci and James Dommett, Addisons
agreement had been entered into between the NICC and Crown Sydney and that the licence had been amended to reflect further conditions. Queensland The Queensland government confirmed on 27 March 2025, that The Star’s casino licence in Queensland remains suspended on a deferred basis to 30 Sep- tember 2026 (this period of suspension was extend- ed from 30 September 2025), and that the term of the special manager had been extended to reflect the extended suspension of the casino licence. This decision was taken following the report of the special manager dated 28 February 2025. National Consumer Protection Framework Ongoing compliance with the measures introduced under the NCPF is being monitored by gambling regu- lators in the Australian states and territories. There have been numerous requests by regulators requir- ing wagering operators to provide evidence of their compliance with the various measures. The implementation and effectiveness of BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register is under review. As part of the review, a public consultation process was conducted between December 2024 and April 2025. A report on the outcome of the review is expect- ed to be provided to the Minister of Communications in early 2026 and will subsequently be tabled in Fed - eral Parliament. ACMA’s BetStop Enforcement Actions As regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has taken several enforce- ment actions against wagering service providers for breaches of the BetStop rules. As of June 2025, 30,032 people had active exclusions under the Bet- Stop scheme and, as this number grows, the ACMA has been engaged in investigations relating to poten- tial breaches. The following are some key enforcement actions taken during the past year. • Betchoice Corporation Pty Ltd (Unibet) – fined AUD1 million for failing to close the accounts of 954 of its customers who had registered under Betstop.
• PointsBet Australia Pty Ltd – fined AUD500,800 for 800 messages that breached spam laws. The pro- vider also breached Betstop provisions by delay- ing the closure of accounts of Betstop-registered customers and by sending marketing messages to self-excluded persons. • Buddybet Pty Ltd ‒ breached Betstop provisions related to closing Betstop-registered customers and sending marketing materials to self-excluded persons. NSW Responsible Gambling Measures for Hotels and Clubs Following the introduction, with effect from 1 July 2024, of responsible gambling measures applicable to clubs and hotels that conduct gaming through the operation in their licensed premises of gaming machines (also known as pokies), the NSW govern- ment conducted consultation on the introduction of facial recognition technology to assist with the imple- mentation and enforcement of player exclusions. The consultation included a draft code of practice for feed- back. The consultation closed on 28 March 2025. The NSW government is reviewing the responses to the consultation. No timeline has been given as to the publication of the outcome of the consultation. Victoria Update In Victoria, a law had been introduced to prohibit Crown Melbourne (the sole casino operator in the state) from accepting from a person, for the pur- poses of gambling, more than AUD1,000 in cash in any 24-hour period. This restriction was scheduled to come into effect on 1 December 2025. However, the introduction of this restriction has been postponed to 1 December 2027. This reportedly fol- lowed a submission by Crown that the technology to facilitate the transition from traditional casino games to managed cash accounts does not currently exist. On 19 August 2025, the VGCCC announced that it had formally censured Crown Melbourne for breach- ing mandatory pre-commitment rules on its poker machines. The contraventions involved: • 22 patrons who were able to continue using poker machines even after exceeding their preset time or
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