Star Sydney Slammed With $10 Million in Penalties as Regulators Uncover Major Compliance Failures

Star Sydney has been hit with a staggering $10 million in fines after regulators uncovered a series of serious breaches including allowing patrons to gamble for more than 36 hours straight, failing to prevent potential criminal activity, and improperly converting reward points into cash.

The NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) revealed on Monday that the casino repeatedly breached gaming time limits between May 2024 and April 2025, with some players gambling non‑stop for more than a day and a half. Regulations cap gambling at 12 hours within any 24‑hour period, but investigators found multiple instances where this was exceeded by more than 24 hours.

The NICC imposed a $1.5 million fine for the time‑limit violations, while the largest penalty $5 million was issued for failing to take adequate steps to ensure patrons were not involved in criminal activity, including money laundering and terrorism financing. Regulators also ordered the casino to set aside an additional $5 million to strengthen its financial crime risk‑management systems.

Another $3 million penalty was handed down after the casino allowed 1,898 patrons to convert loyalty reward points into cash between December 2018 and November 2023, including for airfares and travel expenses. A further $500,000 fine was issued for allowing an excluded patron to enter the venue nine times between February and May 2024.

Star’s chief executive and managing director Bruce Mathieson Jr said the company “takes its obligations seriously” and confirmed all penalties will be paid by June 30, 2027. The casino noted that the breaches occurred before the current leadership team took over.

“We will continue to engage constructively with the NICC as we work through our remediation program. I am confident that we are making progress,” the company said in a statement to investors.

The latest penalties add to a growing list of compliance failures that have kept the casino giant under intense scrutiny and regulators have made it clear they expect rapid, measurable reform.