Queensland grants Star six more months before decision on licence

Embattled casino juggernaut The Star Entertainment Group has been granted another six months until the Queensland government decides whether to enforce a proposed 90-day licence ban on its Gold Coast venue.

The announcement follows a report to the government in August, which said it was unnecessary to start the suspension of The Star Gold Coast’s licence, first proposed in 2022 and deferred several times since. Instead, special manager Nicholas Weeks wrote that there was “a credible basis to rescind the deferred suspension”.

But just eight days later, he wrote a supplementary memo, citing media coverage from this masthead and the Australian Financial Review of “governance, leadership, culture, risk and compliance , safer gambling, financial crime, customer management” and the operation of The Star Brisbane.

In Brisbane, a casino worker died after management ignored repeated concerns about a gap in the venue’s Sky Deck railing more than a year before the incident, leaked documents revealed.

Fresh complaints in early September, following the young woman’s death, prompted Queensland’s health and safety regulator to reopen its investigation .

In her announcement on Wednesday, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington kept the option of suspending the Gold Coast casino’s licence on the table.

She said The Star needed to “further demonstrate its delivery on key remediation commitments” before the state could make a final call on the licence.

“We have continued to set clear expectations for The Star to ensure the utmost integrity of Queensland’s casino operations,” she said.

“Queenslanders can have full confidence that we will take immediate action if The Star fails to deliver on its obligations.”

The extension also added six months to Weeks’ time as special manager of the Gold Coast venue, which he oversaw alongside his position as external advisor at The Star Brisbane.

In Weeks’ August report, he highlighted significant progress on a remediation plan designed to instil cultural reform, safer gambling, risk management, and financial crime compliance conduct.

Weeks said The Star Entertainment Group had completed 85 per cent of the remediation plan ordered by the state government.

“There are approximately 80 milestones remaining in the remediation plan for delivery between now and 31 July 2027,” he said.

But in his supplementary memo, he said the matters raised in recent media coverage had increased the uncertainty about “the effectiveness, embedment and sustainability of reform”.