Star City, the only casino in New South Wales, is owned and operated by Tabcorp Holdings Limited. Opened as a temporary facility in September 1995 and acquired in a takeover bid by Tabcorp, the 99-year casino licence has one year of exclusivity left to run. Located adjacent to Darling Harbour, Star City is allowed to operate 200 gaming tables and 1,500 gaming machines. Tabcorp maintains it is committed to responsible gaming and has staff trained to help those who seek assistance for a gambling problem.

A District Court Judge in Sydney feels that Star City management was insufficiently proactive in dealing with the gambling addiction of a bank clerk who lost A$8 million at the casino, in a case with echoes of Dunedin Casino in New Zealand. The Judge described the casino as irresponsible and said the course of events would have confirmed the fears of those who had opposed the construction of a casino complex in Sydney.

The money lost by the bank clerk was, of course, not his own but funds stolen from the bank where he was an employee. Star City did finally bring him to the attention of the police but, according to the Judge who sentenced the man to a minimum three years in jail, should have acted sooner and enquired much earlier into the source of the money he used for gambling. The man pleaded guilty to 37 counts of defrauding the bank for a total of A$10.4 million over a 15-month period from December 2004.
(E-10.27.06)

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