Star Sydney fined for underage gambling issues
The Star Sydney was fined $64,000 after minors were caught gambling inside the premises. Surveillance footage showed a 12-year-old girl and two other young people accessing the games, with the girl placing almost two dozen bets on poker machines.
Parental Assistance:
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this story is that the parents are the ones who helped the child gamble at the facility. Surveillance footage of the property showed the child was helped into the casino by her mother. The exit door was held open so she could avoid detection.
The video footage shows the young girl gambling for around 20 minutes. The footage was released by the Liquor & Gaming New South Wales. While the parents knew what they were doing was wrong and assisted in the girl gambling, the casino is at fault. David Byrne, the NSW Independent Liquor & Authority director of Investigations and intervention said that minors coming in through side doors should be a risk that the casino is ready for.
According to Byrne, the Star did not manage the risk and once the child was in the casino, there were instances where staff members should have noticed a young child playing the pokies.
Additional Minor Activity:
Along with the 12-year-old, two other older minors were able to gain access to gambling at the casino owned by Star Echo Entertainment. A 17-year-old was found to be gambling on-site and was served alcohol. He played several rounds of roulette and poker hands before he was kicked out. The teenager used his own license to gain entry and was spoken to by staff members a minimum of 15 times during the time period he was there.
In a separate incident, a 16-year old girl was able to enter the casino via the VIP checkout. She was not asked for ID. When staff members finally did ask for her ID, they took a fake ID and she was served alcohol.