AUSTRAC directed The Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville and Mindil Beach Casino Resort in Darwin to engage independent auditors.
Both regional casinos must assess their Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing compliance.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre serves as the country’s financial intelligence agency. AUSTRAC focuses on detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorism financing.
Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC’s CEO, said that smaller venues face the same criminal exploitation risks as major operators.
The regulator identified possible deficiencies in both casinos’ AML/CTF controls, risk assessments, and governance systems. These gaps raised concerns about their ability to prevent criminal money flows.
Thomas stressed that “like all gambling venues, The Ville and Mindil Beach face heightened risk of exploitation by criminals.” Size doesn’t reduce criminal targeting of gambling facilities.
This action continues AUSTRAC’s broader campaign against the gambling industry. Previous enforcement targeted major operators and online bookmakers.
Independent auditors will review the casinos’ AML/CTF programs comprehensively. They’ll examine how venues identify and manage risks, provide governance oversight, and monitor customers.
The auditors must report their findings directly to AUSTRAC. This gives the regulator detailed insight into each casino’s compliance gaps.
Both The Ville and Mindil Beach will bear the audit costs themselves. AUSTRAC will decide on further action based on audit outcomes.
Failure to maintain adequate AML/CTF controls can trigger regulatory penalties.
The action follows major enforcement against Crown Resorts, Sky City, and The Star. Online bookmakers including Entain, Sportsbet, and Bet365 also faced previous regulatory action.
Thomas confirmed AUSTRAC’s commitment to “driving illicit money out of the gambling industry in Australia.” The agency wants all gambling businesses to have strong money laundering controls.
Regional casinos now face the same scrutiny as major operators. Geographic location doesn’t exempt venues from compliance requirements.
AUSTRAC’s systematic approach covers both land-based and online gambling sectors. The regulator is working to close compliance gaps across the entire industry.
The audits represent proactive enforcement rather than reactive penalties. AUSTRAC aims to identify and fix problems before they become major violations.
This enforcement pattern suggests continued regulatory pressure on Australian gambling operators. Compliance standards are rising across all venue types and sizes.
In May 2025, AUSTRAC decided to expand its Fintel Alliance partnership model after successfully investigating multiple criminal networks that were engaging in fraud, tax evasion and illegal gambling. The collaborative effort involved banks, operators, law enforcement bodies and remittance services.
By using the program, the Fintel Alliance was able to use real-time data sharing to uncover patterns in financial crime that typically go unseen by standard regulatory channels.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas detailed that analysts used over 50 million data points from banks to detect unseen criminal networks in just days.