NSW Star Casino faces a $100 million fine for failing to prevent money laundering and criminal activity. The NSW Government must urgently commit to using this money to immediately reduce gambling harm.
At least a quarter of the fine should be used to establish an independent gambling harm reduction foundation, similar to the Foundation for Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education (FARE) which was set up using the proceeds of an excess $25 million alcohol tax levied on brewers.
FARE independently controls those funds and has used the funds prudently to conduct research into alcohol harm reduction. The same type of body is needed for gambling harm reduction and at least 25% of the Star Casino fine money should be used for this.
John Crozier, Chair, ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Trauma Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons says “There has never been a better opportunity for the NSW Government to help victims of gambling harm”, Dr Crozier said.
“Star Casino has made plenty of money harming people. It just makes sense for a portion of this money to be used to reduce some of this gambling harm.
“There has never been a more urgent need for such an agency in NSW given the findings of the Bergen Royal Commission into Crown Casino, the Bell Inquiry into Star Casino and the current NSW Crime Commission Inquiry into Poker Machines”.
