The Star Sydney Stays Suspended Three Weeks After the NICC Signalled Its Return

Early this month the chief commissioner told MPs the licence could come back in September. Instead the manager's term has been extended to June 2027, with the NICC citing "serious" new allegations about governance, leadership and culture.

• The NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) has told The Star Entertainment Group that the suspension of The Star Sydney's casino licence will stay in effect, the company told the ASX on 25 September
• The Minister for Gaming and Racing amended the Casino Control Regulation 2019 at the NICC's request to extend manager Nick Weeks's term to 30 June 2027, unless the NICC ends it earlier
• Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford said "recent allegations regarding governance, leadership, and culture at the casino are serious", and pointed to the AUSTRAC case and leadership vacancies at group level
• Earlier this month Crawford told a parliamentary committee the licence could be returned this month on a conditional basis
• The decision follows Queensland's deferral of The Star Gold Coast's suspension to March 2027 a day earlier

Nine More Months Under a Manager

The Star Entertainment Group told the Australian Securities Exchange on 25 September that it had been advised by the NSW Independent Casino Commission that the suspension of the licence for The Star Sydney "will remain in effect at this time", and that the manager's appointment has been extended to 30 June 2027, unless terminated earlier by the NICC. The announcement attaches the NICC's media release.

According to the NICC, the Minister for Gaming and Racing amended the Casino Control Regulation 2019 at the commission's request to extend the term of Nick Weeks, who will continue to hold the casino licence for The Star Pty Limited for the next nine months. That arrangement allows the casino to keep operating its gaming facilities while the licence itself remains suspended, as it has been since 2022 in New South Wales.

Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford said The Star had made progress, but that questions remained about its governance, leadership and culture remediation. "There is no doubt that The Star has come a long way in addressing the matters which led to the suspension of its casino licence in 2022," he said. "However, recent allegations regarding governance, leadership, and culture at the casino are serious and are being treated as such by both the manager and the NICC. It is disappointing that despite the progress made by the Sydney casino, the Group company continues to experience problems that affect each of its properties."

The commission also noted that The Star is still waiting for the outcome of the civil proceedings brought by AUSTRAC in the Federal Court, and that "there remains uncertainty" about the group's capacity to support the Sydney casino's remediation while it fills critical leadership and governance roles. The suspension can be lifted "at any time" if the casino shows that its remediation has been properly embedded, Crawford said. Neither release describes the recent allegations.

A Reversal Inside a Month

The decision reverses the direction Crawford set out in evidence reported on 4 September, when he told a parliamentary committee that The Star Sydney could have its licence returned that month on a conditional basis, that he was satisfied with the new management under Bally's Corporation and Investment Holdings, and that Weeks would probably move to a monitoring role. He also warned of "a few kinks and bumps" in the following five or six weeks. Crawford has announced that he will retire in November.

The Sydney decision came a day after Queensland deferred The Star Gold Coast's 90-day suspension for a sixth time, to 31 March 2027, and extended Weeks's appointment there as special manager to the same date. The Star's notice of annual general meeting, published the same day, asks shareholders on 27 October to approve issuing new shares to Bally's and Investment Holdings in place of interest owed on their convertible notes.

The Regulator Has Moved the Test From Remediation to Conduct

Crawford's statement is careful to credit the Sydney casino's remediation. What has changed is not the programme but the conduct around it: allegations about governance and culture that are recent, serious and, on his account, not confined to Sydney. That distinction matters, because a remediation plan can be audited against milestones while culture can only be judged by what happens next. By tying the licence to the group's ability to fill leadership roles and to the AUSTRAC outcome, the NICC has linked Sydney's return to matters the Sydney management cannot resolve alone. The practical effect is that the licence will not come back under Crawford, who leaves in November, and his successor inherits the decision.

The Group Is Now Supervised in Two States at Once, With a Shared Manager

Weeks now holds two parallel appointments, as manager in Sydney until June and special manager on the Gold Coast until March. Both regulators say progress has been real, and both have declined to let go. For Bally's, which took control on the premise that the licences would be normalised, each extension adds cost and delay at a company that has flagged doubt over its survival and now proposes to pay its largest shareholders their note interest in shares rather than cash. The unanswered question is what the "recent allegations" are, because that is what separates a routine extension from a new problem.

Three weeks ago the NICC was preparing to hand the licence back with conditions. Today it is asking the group to prove it can govern itself, and has given it nine more months to do so.