Crown Melbourne reform underway: Special Manager Activity Report 30 June 2022

Executive summary

This is the first activity report of the Special Manager for the Melbourne casino operator. It has been prepared by the Office of the Special Manager (OSM) to inform the public on key activities undertaken by the Special Manager for the first six-month reporting period, 1 January to 30 June 2022.

In October 2021, Commissioner Ray Finkelstein AO KC, presiding over the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence, found Crown Melbourne unsuitable to hold Victoria’s casino licence.

The Royal Commission concluded Crown had engaged in ‘disgraceful’ conduct that was ‘illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative’. Commissioner Finkelstein described the range of wrongdoing uncovered by the commission as ‘alarming’, particularly because ‘it was engaged in by a regulated entity whose privilege to hold a casino licence is dependent upon it being, at all times, a person of good character, honesty and integrity’.1

However, the Royal Commission recommended Crown be permitted to continue operating the casino under stringent independent oversight conditions for two years. It determined immediate cancellation of the casino operator’s licence was not in the interests of the Victorian community due to the significant risk to innocent third parties (including Crown employees and suppliers) and to the state’s economy more broadly.

The Royal Commission also determined Crown Melbourne had the will and capacity to transform itself to again become suitable to hold a casino licence, noting it had already commenced a substantial reform program. Commissioner Finkelstein concluded that a reform program delivered under the independent oversight of a Special Manager was likely to succeed and, if it did, it would be to Victoria’s benefit.