Crown Melbourne and The Star Sydney: How Australia's Casino Royal Commissions Changed Two Icons
Australia's casino landscape spent much of the past five years being taken apart in public. Two flagship properties, Crown Melbourne and The Star Sydney, both faced state-run inquiries that found serious failures in anti-money-laundering controls and responsible-gambling practice, and both came out the other side under new ownership rules, capped junket access, and permanent government-appointed oversight. For visitors, the casinos still open their doors and run the same games as before, but the fine print of who can operate them, and how, changed for good.
Two flagship casinos, two royal commissions
Crown Melbourne, Australia's largest casino floor, went first. Victoria's Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence handed down its findings in October 2021, concluding Crown had let money laundering run through its Melbourne tables for years and had misled regulators about it. Sydney's Star Entertainment followed a similar path: a New South Wales inquiry led by Adam Bell SC found comparable failures at The Star Sydney and recommended the operator be found unsuitable to hold its casino licence. Both companies avoided outright closure only by accepting multi-year supervision, but the findings reshaped how each casino is run day to day.
Crown Melbourne today
Crown Melbourne kept its licence under a Special Manager appointed by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission, a role that has since shifted to a lighter, ongoing licence-condition regime. The Southbank complex on the Yarra River still runs a full casino floor alongside its hotel towers and entertainment precinct, and table games — baccarat, blackjack, roulette — remain the draw for visitors. What changed is behind the scenes: mandatory carded play limits on electronic gaming machines, tighter cash-transaction reporting, and a permanent regulator presence on site that wasn't there before 2021.
The Star Sydney and its ownership shake-up
The Star's troubles ran longer and deeper. After the 2022 Bell inquiry, the operator lost its Sydney casino licence outright for a period, regained conditional approval under a manager appointed by the state regulator, and then spent 2024 fighting off insolvency before a rescue deal involving Bally's Corporation and Star's own major shareholder kept the Pyrmont casino trading. The building itself, on Sydney's Darling Harbour waterfront, never stopped operating through the corporate turmoil, but the company that owns it has changed shape more than once. Visitors booking a stay should check current ownership and any service changes before travelling, since the restructuring isn't fully settled.
What changed for visitors
Day to day, the practical differences are modest. Both casinos still run standard hours, standard dress codes, and the same core game mix that draws players across Asia-Pacific: baccarat and its side bets dominate the tables, backed by blackjack, roulette, and a large electronic gaming floor. The bigger shift is transparency — both venues now publish more detail on their responsible-gambling programs, and Victoria's carded-play system tracks session length and spend on Crown's machines in a way it didn't before the commission's findings.
Other Australian casinos worth knowing
Melbourne and Sydney aren't the only stops. The Star also runs a smaller casino in Brisbane's Treasury Casino building, soon to be supplemented by Queens Wharf Brisbane, a joint venture bringing a new casino floor online in stages. Perth's Crown Perth, on the Swan River, avoided the worst of the Victorian and New South Wales findings and kept operating with fewer changes, making it the most straightforward stop if the goal is simply to play rather than track a regulatory story. Adelaide, Darwin, and the Gold Coast round out the country's smaller licensed floors.
Getting there and dress codes
Crown Melbourne sits a short tram or rideshare trip from the CBD, on the south bank of the Yarra, and is walkable from Southbank's hotel strip. The Star Sydney sits in Pyrmont, a ten-minute walk from Darling Harbour and a light-rail stop from the city centre, with Sydney Airport around 20 minutes away by taxi outside peak traffic. Both properties enforce smart-casual minimums on their main floors year-round, tightening further in VIP rooms, and neither requires advance booking for general gaming access — only for hotel stays and shows. For a look at how a different regulatory system handles casino access, our guide to Korea's two-tier casino system is a useful comparison, and our house edge breakdown is worth reading before sitting down at any table here.
Planning notes for a first visit
Neither casino requires anything special to walk in and play beyond ID and a smart-casual outfit, but the regulatory story is worth knowing before you go: both properties operate under closer supervision than they did five years ago, and both have been through periods of genuine uncertainty about ownership or licensing that are worth a quick check before booking. For more stops across the region, browse our full destinations coverage.
21+ in the United States, 18+ in the United Kingdom; Australian casinos generally require visitors to be 18 or older. Ownership, licensing conditions, and opening hours can change with little notice — confirm current details before you travel. If gambling stops being entertainment for you, see our responsible gambling page.
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