Star Entertainment ordered to pay AU$260m over money-laundering failures
Star can pay in four equal instalments after the Federal Court rejected both its own offer and AUSTRAC's call for a single payment.
Star Entertainment Group must pay AU$260 million in penalties for breaching Australia’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, Inside Asian Gaming reported. The Federal Court ruled on Wednesday 28 October 2026 in the civil case that the regulator AUSTRAC brought in 2022.
The details
- Split: AU$195 million for The Star Sydney and AU$65 million for The Star Gold Coast. Justice Cameron Moore agreed the Sydney penalty should be three times the Gold Coast one because its breaches were graver.
- Payment: four equal instalments over 19 months. The judge rejected AUSTRAC’s call for a single payment, saying Star is likely to need to raise money.
- The range: Star proposed AU$100 million, which the judge found too low. AUSTRAC sought AU$400 million, which he found too high.
- Reasoning: Justice Moore noted evidence that Star put “profit ahead of compliance”. He said the penalty would have been higher but for the earlier state penalties, the licence suspension and the controls that followed.
Why it matters
The judge rejected AUSTRAC’s comparison with Crown Resorts, which reached a AU$450 million settlement with the regulator in 2023. He said Star’s changes, including mandatory carded play at The Star Sydney, make a repeat significantly less likely.
Star has other sanctions on record: four against The Star Sydney by any regulator are recorded in The Payout, the latest an AU$500,000 penalty from the NICC on 18 August 2026.
What’s next
The report does not say how Star will fund the instalments or whether the ruling affects its New South Wales casino licence position.
Source
Report by Inside Asian GamingStar Entertainment Group
Drafted with AI assistance from a report by Inside Asian Gaming and reviewed by our editors before publication. How we work