NSW Jobs Guarantee Powers and Suitability Requirements for Casino Operators

Casino Control Amendment Bill 2023

6 Feb 2024: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

casino regulation casino taxes employment rights gambling job security

Introduced by: The Hon John Graham MLC (ALP); The Hon David Harris MP (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The Treasurer can sign jobs guarantee agreements with casino operators; these mandate minimum employment numbers and penalties for non-compliance.
Penalties paid under these jobs agreements are treated as casino duty.
The Crown can recover unpaid jobs agreement penalties and interest as if they were unpaid casino duty.
The Treasurer must table any jobs guarantee agreement in Parliament within 10 sitting days.
The NICC must check if a person is suitable before approving a major change that makes them a close associate of a casino operator.
The NICC cannot approve such a change unless the person is deemed suitable or holds a specific exemption.
The Crown is not required to pay compensation for regulatory actions that override commercial agreements with casino operators or impose new taxes.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Damien Tudehope LIB

“I welcome the Treasurer’s swift second reading speech on the Casino Control Amendment Bill 2023. The Opposition will be supporting the bill. The bill allows the Treasurer to enter into a jobs guarantee agreement with a casino operator and clarifies that the announcement of the two duty rates and certain other actions do not give rise to compensation from the Crown.”

Official source →

Cate Faehrmann GRN

“As The Greens’ spokesperson for gambling harm reduction, I reluctantly support the Casino Control Amendment Bill 2023. However, at the Committee stage we will be moving a relatively minor but important amendment in relation to the jobs guarantee agreement. The genesis of the bill goes back quite a number of years.”

Official source →

Daniel Mookhey ALP

“I reject everything that Ms Cate Faehrmann said—”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Casino Control Amendment Bill 2023

Mr DAVID HARRIS, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty — 2023-11-21

The bill seeks to amend the Casino Control Act to authorise the Treasurer to enter into a job guarantee agreement with the Star; clarify regulatory actions that are not subject to compensation from the Government; and create and rectify an inadvertent omission in relation to major change approvals involving close associates. The Star casino has agreed to enter into a job guarantee agreement to protect over 3,000 jobs related to its Sydney operations until 1 July 2030. Legislative provisions are required to authorise the Treasurer to enter into that agreement and to apply penalties where the guarantee is not met. The bill authorises the Treasurer to enter into a job guarantee agreement with the Star, through which the Star will guarantee a minimum number of workers are employed in relation to the casino.