Crown punters restricted to $1000 cash limits

New laws holding Crown Casino to greater account will see a $1000 cash limit imposed on punters after passing state parliament.

The casino giant will also have to introduce mandatory identification checks before a person can participate in gambling activities or claim winnings of more than $1000.

The reforms are part of the Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022, which passed through parliament on September 20.

Patrons will be set a cash-withdrawal cap of $1000 every 24 hours as the state government takes steps to prevent money laundering and gambling related-harm.

It comes after a royal commission on Crown last year found it had engaged in an “alarming catalogue of wrongdoing”.

Crown has one chance to reform its operations otherwise its licence will be stripped next year.

As part of the reforms, Casino patrons will be able to set time and money limits on their gaming activities through a mandatory pre-commitment system for electronic gaming machines for Australian residents in the venue.

The mandatory pre-commitment system must be implemented by no later than December 2025 to allow for the development of technologies that don’t currently exist.

Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne said it was holding Crown to account and delivering an additional 12 of the 33 Royal Commission recommendations by “targeting money laundering and harm minimisation – to implement every one of the Royal Commission’s recommendations”.

“This legislation implements world-leading reforms to make sure the failures uncovered by the Royal Commission can never happen again,” she said.

Last year Crown appointed a special manager to oversee the casino for two years and increased the maximum penalty for breaches from $1 million to $100 million.

Crown must also be limited to holding one bank account for patrons to deposit funds, which was imposed by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission to prevent illegal transfers.

Other reforms included in the Bill will see Crown cover the cost of regulating the casino with the reintroduction of a supervision charge previously abolished by the Kennett government. •