The Royal Commission report and the Government’s response have just been released.

In short, Crown will keep their licence for at least 2 years, despite being found to be unfit to operate the casino. A “Special Manager” will be appointed to oversee Crown for the 2-year period, after which time the Regulator will determine whether Crown will be able to continue to operate the casino.

You can view the report’s recommendations here.

The Victorian Government has advised that they will accept all the recommendations of the Royal Commission and go further in some respects.

It is proposed that the new laws will provide that Crown’s licence will be automatically cancelled at the end of the period of Special Manager oversight unless the regulator is clearly satisfied that Crown is suitable to continue operating the Melbourne casino. The onus will be on Crown to clearly demonstrate through its operations and the progress on its reforms why its licence should not be cancelled.

While there is still some uncertainty over Crown’s future, these decisions will mean our immediate job security is not impacted. Union members can continue getting back to work and we know that many will breathe a sigh of relief. 

Some will be thinking whether this response goes far enough, considering the misconduct that has been uncovered during this inquiry process. Your union will work with the Government and Regulator to help make sure Crown casino is safe and sustainable for all, and that workers have a real say in better regulation, governance and harm minimisation practices.

As always, the work of your union continues and is more important than ever. The next few years will be challenging for us.

This is a good time to acknowledge all the hard work your delegates have done over the last few weeks, meeting with Members of Parliament to talk about protecting members jobs, speaking with union members, writing to every Victorian Member of Parliament and more!

If you have any further questions about the Royal Commission outcome or what it means for you, please speak to your union organisers or delegates.

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