Strategic plan 2024-25

The NICC was established in response to the need for more stringent and focused supervision of the casino industry. Since September 2022, the NICC has implemented strict new controls to monitor casino operations, oversee the people involved and invested in casinos, and developed casino capabilities to contain and control the potential for harm. The NICC aims to make fair and transparent decisions under the Casino Control Act 1992 and to rebuild public confidence in the NSW casino industry through visible and robust supervision.

The NICC has responsibility for regulating NSW casinos and works in partnership with Liquor & Gaming NSW through the many delegated roles that undertake casino supervision on its behalf. While the NICC exercises its functions as a separate entity, independent of government departments, it remains connected to the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport which provides centralised corporate support.

Monitoring and enforcing casino compliance

The NICC is responsible for ensuring casino operators implement controls to prevent and minimise gambling harm, money laundering and terrorism financing activities. The NICC is tasked with monitoring and enforcing casino compliance and is authorised to take strong disciplinary action in response to serious deliberate or repeated contraventions and to conduct periodic reviews of casino licences with Royal Commission-like powers. 

Promoting fair and transparent decision making

In undertaking its statutory functions, the NICC must promote fair and transparent decision-making, guided by the objects of the Act. The NICC makes decisions independently of government and must put in place robust yet efficient internal processes to build public confidence in its activities and the conduct of its commissioners.

Lifting standards through clear regulatory objectives

The NICC’s regulatory responsibilities are to lift standards in casino operations to ensure NSW casinos are safe, compliant, and responsible. The NICC will uphold community expectations by overseeing NSW casinos so they are resistant to criminal infiltration and equipped to minimise gambling harm.

Working collaboratively to perform our statutory functions

The NICC collaborates with regulators, industry and other stakeholders to perform its statutory functions effectively. This includes managing delegations to specialist Liquor & Gaming NSW staff as well as sharing information with other regulators and collaborating with law enforcement. The NICC’s relationships with delegated staff, independent advisors, and government agencies assist the NICC to supervise casino operations, develop insights into risks, and build expertise. 

Exercising our powers with independence and integrity

The NICC has a range of statutory powers to ensure the management and operation of NSW casinos is free from criminal influence or exploitation, gaming is conducted honestly, and harm to individuals and their families is minimised. The NICC must ensure these powers are exercised appropriately and the casino supervisory fund is used responsibly. 

1A Open and accountable governance

Ensure the NICC’s decision making is structured and transparent, its governance frameworks are comprehensive, and its management of delegated roles and responsibilities meets governance standards.

1B Clear and consistent messaging

Define our regulatory position to casinos, stakeholders and the community, providing confidence in the NICC as transparent, accountable, and effective.

1C Appropriate management of resourcing

Review and adjust our resourcing to ensure the NICC and other service providers are appropriately equipped, accountable, and specialist, designing our priorities and budget for maximum effectiveness.

1D Respond appropriately to casino inquiries

Continue implementing the reforms prompted by previous casino inquiries and address new issues and community expectations in response to Bell Inquiry Two.

2A Embed regulatory controls

Embed and oversee regulatory controls that reduce risk, promote compliance with the legislation and help us to identify and respond to breaches.

2B Facillitate breach reporting

Support the development of improved breach reporting platforms to make it easier for casinos, other regulators and the public to notify us or make a report of potential wrongdoing.

2C Establish compliance thresholds

Supervise and enforce compliance with casino internal controls and standard operating procedures to ensure compliance thresholds are consistent and controls are fit for purpose.

2D Standardise compliance

Promote best practice in compliance standards, expectations and obligations and work closely with interstate regulators and the Office of Responsible Gambling to share learnings and close regulatory gaps. 

3A Expand oversight of risks

Expand our reach, visbility and oversight of financial crime and other risks by improving our capabilities and establishing the NICC’s surveillance and data and intelligence collection mechanisms.

3B Build resistance

Prioritise cultural change as a core element of remediation, supporting casinos to build the governance, expertise, capacity and operational frameworks to resist criminal infiltration and conduct gaming honestly and compliantly. 

3C Mitigate harms

Support casinos to develop their capability to minimise and prevent harms associated with gaming and liquor through better, safer, systems and protocols, applying a disciplinary response when necessary. 

3D Technology uptake

Supervise the transition to new technologies such as carded and cashless play, to meet legislative objectives including reducing the potential for money laundering and gambling harm and improving customer due diligence.

4A Invest in relationships

Invest in stakeholder relationships and develop channels for information sharing to obstruct the mobility of criminals across jurisdictions and enable best practice across different regulatory structures and settings.

4B Secure remedial and future compliance 

Build our internal capabilities to embed effective regulatory supervision past the remediation and suitability phases, into long-term sustainability.

4C Leverage the Gambling Harm Advisory Committee

Utilise insights from the Gambling Harm Minimisation Advisory Committee to inform practical approaches to harm minimisation in casino settings.

4D Better utilise intelligence and data

Identify intelligence and data streams and with analysis, increase visibility, better measure compliance rates, and identify trends or clusters of harm that require a regulatory response.

The NICC manages risks to its operational abilities through strategic planning and governance and a comprehensive risk framework, which is monitored by an independent audit and risk committee.

The NICC is empowered to apply a range of regulatory and disciplinary tools to meet the objects of the Act. The NICC will use these tools to monitor and develop casino capability and to contain and control the potential for casinos to cause harm to individuals, families and the community.

Working in partnership is key to the NICC’s capacity for oversight and its ability to make informed decisions. The NICC will create links that enable better, more connected regulation, working closely with Liquor & Gaming NSW, and cooperatively with state and federal regulators, to increase the reach and impact of its activities.

The NICC continually assesses the level and quality of data and intelligence it receives to facilitate ongoing improvement and meet the complexities of regulation in a modern environment. The NICC’s access to data and intelligence is crucial to analysing, understanding and responding to developing risks in casino operations.

The NICC is comprised of five commissioners and eleven administrative staff whose talents and energy are vital to the NICC’s success. The NICC will ensure its team members have access to a range of training and education opportunities that enable the NICC to advance its position as a specialist casino regulator.