South Australia’s gaming regulator, the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner (OLGC), has officially opened the floor for submissions for its new inquiry into the gaming operations of SkyCity Entertainment Group and its SkyCity Adelaide casino.
The investigation was first announced earlier this month, and the OLGC said at the time that its motivation for doing so had to do with the troubling findings of other recent inquiries into fellow operators Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts.
Crown was found unsuitable for licensure in Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales (NSW); Star is currently under review in both Queensland and NSW, and the early reports don’t look particularly promising. As a result, the OLGC had reasonable suspicion that the problems within the country’s casino industry likely “extend beyond any one organization.”
Now that the SkyCity inquiry is underway, the OLGC is asking for submissions from “anyone who may have information relevant to the review.”
The investigation is being led by Brian Martin AO QC, a former Australian Supreme Court justice. OLGC Commissioner Dini Soulio said in a previous statement that Martin “ is a highly respected member of the legal profession” who has “conducted reviews of key criminal justice policies in South Australia, including reforms to the handling of major indictable offenses and the state’s sentencing discount scheme.”
Soulio added: “I have every confidence he will deliver a report to help us ensure that South Australians can have confidence in the way that the Adelaide Casino is operating.”
