The Star Entertainment Group has seen the appointment of the special manager for its Sydney Casino extended until March 31st of 2025, potentially offering insight into the results of the Bell Two inquiry into its suitability to maintain its casino license in the state.
According to a Thursday release, the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) requested and received approval from authorities to extend the appointment of Nicholas Weeks by a further six months.
This marks the third such extension, with the most recent deadline for Weeks’ exit previously set for September 30th, 2024.
The first Bell inquiry, in 2022, resulted in the group being stripped of its operating license, with the special manager being put in place to run the property until it was deemed compliant.
Adam Bell presented his first report in August of 2022, while in August of 2023, the gaming group was found to have implemented 22 of the 30 recommendations issued in the report.
But this was not sufficient for authorities, and in February of 2024 Bell Two was launched – to evaluate how The Star handled the recommendations, as the NICC ‘was not satisfied The Star was progressing its remediation in a timely fashion’.
The positive results were largely attributed to the special manager’s “oversight and direction versus what is being driven by The Star’s reform agenda,” remarked the NICC’s Chief Commissioner, Philip Crawford, at the time.
The Bell Two inquiry report has not yet been made public, but the extension serves as a potential sign that The Star could see a further extension of its casino license suspension, giving the operator even more time to fix its remediation efforts.
