South Australia’s only casino has brought a four-year regulatory dispute to a close. On 19 June, SkyCity Adelaide Pty Limited and its New Zealand parent company, SkyCity Entertainment Group (SCEG), signed a non-binding agreement in principle with the South Australian Liquor and Gambling Commissioner. Under the agreement, the operator will pay a penalty of A$21m (US$14.7m).
The sum will be paid in three equal instalments of A$7m (US$4.9m each): the first within 28 days of signing a legally binding tripartite agreement between SkyCity Adelaide, SCEG and the South Australian government; the second one year later; and the third a year after that. The settlement also commits the company to deep structural reform, conditions under which SkyCity Adelaide was permitted to retain its licence following a multi-year investigation.
Why SkyCity Adelaide was fined
The case dates back to 2022, when South Australian authorities initiated an independent inquiry into Adelaide Casino. That inquiry was suspended for 18 months while a separate federal proceeding brought by AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial intelligence regulator, ran in parallel.
In June 2024, the Federal Court delivered its judgment on the AUSTRAC claim, ordering SkyCity Adelaide to pay A$67m (US$46.9m) for systemic failures under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation. The court materials identified inadequate due diligence on 121 high-risk customers, some of whom were already known to law enforcement, including individuals linked to organised crime, loan sharking, and human trafficking.
The parallel independent inquiry concluded in August 2025 with the publication of a 500-page report by retired Supreme Court judge Brian Martin. His central finding was that, as of October 2021, neither SkyCity Adelaide nor its parent, SCEG, would have met the requirements to hold a casino licence. Only by April 2024 had the company once again become suitable to hold a casino licence, following changes in management and corporate culture. An attempt to hold former executives to account failed: in December 2025, the Supreme Court of New South Wales dismissed a shareholder claim against eight former SkyCity senior managers.
Seven conditions in exchange for settlement
The current agreement resolves all matters known to the regulator, covering both the issues raised in the judge’s report and additional concerns. In return, the company has accepted seven core obligations:
- By 1 January 2028, a majority of seats on the SkyCity Adelaide board must be held by independent directors with no connection to parent company SCEG.
- The local Chief Executive of Adelaide Casino will report directly to that board, with all senior managers reporting to the CEO.
- The company must notify the Commissioner of any material breaches within five business days.
- An independent compliance auditor will begin annual reporting 12 months after the completion of the internal B3 Program transformation initiative, which is scheduled to conclude in June 2027.
- The casino will phase out cash transactions above A$4,999 (US$3,500).
- Junket tours are banned indefinitely. In practice, the casino ceased junket operations in April 2021.
- Finally, the Commissioner gains the power to issue legally binding directions directly to the parent company, SCEG, a precedent-setting authority that extends beyond South Australia’s borders.
“Reaching this in-principle agreement is an important step for SkyCity and reflects the significant work our team has done over the past four years to transform our compliance culture, strengthen our governance, and earn back the trust of our regulators”
Jason Walbridge, CEO, SCEG
In a statement from the Office of Consumer and Business Services, Commissioner Brett Humphrey expressed confidence that the measures would ensure ongoing compliance with all licence conditions and applicable state and federal law.
“This should send a clear message to South Australians that the failings of the past are completely unacceptable, and we are expecting them – as the owners and operators of South Australia’s only casino – to do better in the future”
Brett Humphrey, South Australian Liquor and Gambling Commissioner
AUSTRAC pursues the entire industry
SkyCity is not the only operator to have faced pressure from AUSTRAC. Since 2021, a wave of enforcement action has swept across the Australian gambling industry. Virtually every major operator in the country has been subject to an independent inquiry, a commission, or court proceedings.
Among the most prominent cases, Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth were ordered by the Federal Court in July 2023 to pay a combined A$450m (US$315m) to AUSTRAC for equivalent AML failures.
Star Entertainment is awaiting a Federal Court ruling on an A$400m (US$280m) AUSTRAC claim; hearings concluded in June 2025, and no verdict had been delivered at the time of publication. The company has previously warned that a penalty of that scale would threaten its financial viability. In December 2024, AUSTRAC filed its first-ever claim against an online betting operator, targeting Entain, with a hearing scheduled for November 2026.
Systemic failure and the legislative response
The common thread running through all these proceedings is historically weak customer due diligence. For decades, casinos attracted high-value players through intermediaries with minimal scrutiny of the source of funds. When regulators began conducting inquiries after the pandemic, the accumulated failures proved to be industry-wide.
The legislative response came in the form of amendments to Australia’s AML and counter-terrorism financing legislation. From 31 March 2026, updated compliance programme and customer due diligence requirements apply to already-regulated entities, including casinos and bookmakers. On 1 July 2026, the reform enters its next phase, bringing lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and digital asset service providers under AML regulation for the first time. AUSTRAC estimates this will capture up to 100,000 new reporting entities.
For SkyCity Adelaide, this means the seven obligations under the settlement are being implemented against an already significantly raised regulatory baseline that applies across the entire industry. The legally binding tripartite agreement with the state of South Australia is expected to be signed shortly, at which point the first payment period will commence.
This article was first published on the Russian SiGMA News page on 22 June 2026.
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