This Royal Commission was established following the findings of the 'Bergin Inquiry' that Crown Melbourne facilitated millions of dollars to be laundered through a bank account of its subsidiary and it allowed operators with links to organised crime to arrange for junket players to gamble at the casino.

The Victorian Government set the Royal Commission’s terms of reference so that it required, among other things, the Royal Commission to determine whether Crown Melbourne is suitable to hold the casino licence and if it is in the public interest for Crown to continue to operate the licence. If the Commission found that Crown Melbourne was not a suitable licensee, the terms of reference specified that the Commission recommend what action (if any) would be required for it to become suitable.

Key findings:

• The Royal Commission finds Crown is unsuitable to hold a casino licence on the basis that it has engaged in conduct that is “illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative”. The Royal Commission notes that the scale of the wrongdoing is so widespread and egregious that “no other finding was open”.
• The Royal Commission builds on the Bergin Inquiry’s findings, uncovering further failures in governance, risk management and responsible service of gaming.