Gambling Lawsuits in Australia: Every Case, Court and Settlement

5 gambling court cases in Australia are on record as of 14 November 2026, 4 of them class actions, 1 regulator cases against operators and 0 prosecutions. The money in the record went to shareholders and to the Commonwealth, while player claims are undecided or lost.

Who has been paid, and for what? Crown shareholders, through two settlements, and AUSTRAC's penalties went to the Commonwealth. No gambler has recovered losses in court, and the AUSTRAC line is the largest part of the record, with four judgments and one trial pending.

Penalties go to the Commonwealth; the two settlements paid registered shareholders; AUSTRAC v Entain is pending; checked 14 November 2026.

Can players recover losses in Australia? What the courts have decided

No Australian court has ordered a casino or bookmaker to repay a player's gambling losses, no claim is open as of 14 November 2026, and the two settlements on record, AUD 125 million (Zantran v Crown Resorts, approved 29 April 2022) and AUD 72.5 million (Lieberman v Crown Resorts, approved 19 September 2025), paid shareholders, not gamblers. A statement of claim states one side's allegations; only the court's orders decide anything.

Other countries show a different pattern, which the overview of gambling lawsuits by country sets side by side. Two groups of cases follow: the problem-gambler claims and the Fast Code class actions against bookmakers.

Problem-gambler claims: Reynolds, Kakavas and the 2023 to 2026 bookmaker suits

The High Court closed the equitable route in Kakavas v Crown Melbourne ([2013] HCA 25, 5 June 2013): a casino without actual knowledge of a patron's special disadvantage may assume he can look after himself, and the AUD 20.5 million claim failed; before it Reynolds v Katoomba RSL (2001) and Foroughi v Star City (27 September 2007) had rejected a duty of care, after it Guy v Crown (2 February 2018) rejected the deceptive-design theory, and the three Federal Court suits against online bookmakers filed since 2023, Gassner, Fineff and Eddine, have no judgment.

The table lists the eight claims. The last three are allegations in statements of claim, not findings.

Five dismissed, three undecided; the pending three are allegations only; checked 14 November 2026.

What courts have ordered in other countries is compared in can you get gambling losses back: what courts have ordered, country by country.

The Fast Code class actions: Sportsbet tried, Ladbrokes and Neds waiting

Bergman v Sportsbet (Supreme Court of Victoria, S ECI 2024 07057) is the first Australian class action to attack a bookmaker's product as unlawful: it says Fast Code bets, keyed into the app and confirmed by a short call, were online in-play bets banned by the Interactive Gambling Act, the trial before Craig J began on 3 August 2026, and judgment is reserved as of 14 November 2026.

No payout exists. If the plaintiff wins, recovery is net Fast Code losses less the 33 percent group costs order that Matthews J approved on 28 August 2025 ([2025] VSC 521).

The parallel case against Ladbrokes and Neds (S ECI 2025 01120) has the same 33 percent order from 20 July 2026, and its opt-out closed on 8 October 2026; both cases are listed under sports betting lawsuits.

Class actions and mass claims: what Crown and Star shareholders were paid

4 class actions are on record, all in the Federal Court or the Supreme Court of Victoria, and the only two that settled were brought by shareholders of Crown Resorts after the 2016 China arrests and the 2020 AUSTRAC investigation. The table shows the eight, with the fund as a gross figure before deductions.

Victorian group costs orders run from 14 to 33 percent of any recovery, and the median approved rate quoted in the Lieberman judgment is 25 percent. How these actions work in Australia is explained in gambling class actions in Australia: Crown, Star and the pokies cases.

How Australian class settlements pay: registration, group costs orders, installments

Registration decides everything: Lieberman v Crown closed registration on 23 August 2024 (the approval judgment says 24 August) and the Star class action on 26 September 2024, a year or more before any settlement, so an unregistered shareholder is bound but receives nothing; Zantran's approval judgment records about AUD 81.6 million, roughly 65 percent of AUD 125 million, left for about 14,000 registered members after legal costs of AUD 11,521,954.55 and a funder commission cut to AUD 30.2 million, while Maurice Blackburn reports AUD 82.8 million (66.25 percent) distributed.

Lieberman pays AUD 72.5 million in three installments: AUD 20 million by 19 June 2025 (paid), AUD 25 million by 11 May 2026 and AUD 27.5 million by 10 May 2027, less the 27.5 percent group costs order of AUD 19,937,500.

Interim payments went out in July 2026. Maurice Blackburn acts as court-appointed administrator, paying by bank transfer with a AUD 20 minimum; the role is described at Maurice Blackburn as scheme administrator.

Regulator and state cases in court

1 regulator cases and 0 prosecutions make up the state side of the record, and AUSTRAC alone has obtained court-ordered penalties of AUD 822 million from four casino and wagering groups since 2017.

AUSTRAC's civil penalty cases: Tabcorp, Crown, SkyCity, Star, Entain

The Federal Court has ordered four AML/CTF penalties against gambling businesses: Tabcorp AUD 45 million (16 March 2017, [2017] FCA 1296), Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth AUD 450 million (11 July 2023, [2023] FCA 782), SkyCity Adelaide AUD 67 million plus AUD 3 million costs (7 June 2024, [2024] FCA 664) and Star AUD 260 million (28 October 2026, [2026] FCA 1606), the first contested one, where AUSTRAC had sought AUD 400 million and Star argued for no more than AUD 100 million.

In the Star judgment Moore J found that Star earned about AUD 1.33 billion from more than 1,200 high-risk customers between November 2016 and November 2022.

The installment dates come from press reports; the ASX announcement gives only four installments over 19 months. The Federal Court's site blocks automated access, so several figures below rest on case notes and are marked as reported.

ASIC, ACMA and the ACCC

ASIC v Bekier is the first Australian casino directors' duties judgment: Lee J found the former CEO and the former general counsel of Star in breach of s 180 on 5 March 2026 ([2026] FCA 196), dismissed the case against seven non-executive directors, and on 17 June 2026 ordered AUD 700,000 and a six-year disqualification for Bekier and AUD 400,000 and seven years for Martin ([2026] FCA 756), both under appeal since 14 July 2026. The appeal timetable is not confirmed in the court record.

Two other regulators have won penalties. ACMA's first civil penalty case under the Interactive Gambling Act ended on 6 July 2026 with penalties of AUD 15 million, AUD 9 million and AUD 240,000 against an online poker operator, its owner and a third respondent, on top of a AUD 5 million default judgment in 2023; the ACCC obtained AUD 2.75 million from bet365's Hillside entities in 2016 over a "free bets" promotion. Further regulator cases sit under regulators and attorneys general in court.

New South Wales inducement prosecutions and the match-fixing convictions

Liquor and Gaming NSW prosecutes licensed bookmakers for inducement advertising in the Local Court of New South Wales in Sydney, and the fines are small except one: PlayUp AUD 586,000 for 33 offenses (12 August 2024, per press), against Sportsbet AUD 22,000 (26 March 2021), Tabcorp AUD 15,000 (September 2023), PointsBet AUD 20,000 and AUD 35,000, SportChamps AUD 17,500 (18 January 2024) and Ladbrokes AUD 7,500 (November 2015).

Most dates and sums come from press and are shown as reported. The maximum is AUD 110,000 per offense.

Match-fixing cases appear in the same table; a defendant is described as convicted only where the record says so, and Oliver Anderson pleaded guilty in 2017 with no conviction recorded. The inducement cases are listed under advertising and marketing lawsuits against gambling operators.

Supreme and appellate court rulings: the timeline

0 cases on record were decided by the High Court of Australia and 0 by a Full Court or a state Court of Appeal, and the High Court line runs from Betfair v Western Australia (27 March 2008, [2008] HCA 11), which struck down a state ban on betting exchanges under s 92, to the Aristocrat gaming-machine patents, where the Commissioner's special leave application was refused on 5 February 2026 as reported. The table runs oldest first.

Open appeals and high-court gambling cases from all countries are collected at pending appeals and high court gambling cases.

Cases by category

The 5 cases fall into nine categories, led by regulator cases (1), problem-gambler claims (0), shareholder suits (3) and advertising prosecutions (0).

Lawsuits by company

Nine groups account for almost the whole record, and two of them, Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment, appear as defendants to shareholders, to AUSTRAC and, for Star, to ASIC.

What changed in the last 60 days

1 Australian cases changed status between 15 September and 14 November 2026, and the next fortnight carries the first Star installment and the AUSTRAC v Entain trial.

• 28 October 2026: Federal Court orders AUD 260 million against Star, [2026] FCA 1606.
• 8 October 2026: opt-out closes in Bergman v Entain (Ladbrokes and Neds).
• 23 September 2026: court refuses Star's application for security for costs in the DA Lynch class action.
• Next: 25 November 2026, first Star installment, per press; 30 November 2026, AUSTRAC v Entain trial, per press.
• Next: judgment in Bergman v Sportsbet; 10 May 2027, final Lieberman installment.

The same changes across all countries are listed at what changed in gambling litigation in the last 60 days.

Courts, databases and how to read an Australian citation

A medium-neutral citation such as [2013] HCA 25 reads as the 25th judgment of the High Court of Australia in 2013, a Supreme Court of Victoria group proceeding carries a file number such as S ECI 2024 07057 and its judgments appear as [2025] VSC 596, and a Federal Court matter such as NSD1025/2022 is the 1,025th New South Wales registry filing of 2022.

The citation [2026] FCA 1606 is the 1,606th Federal Court judgment of 2026, and FCAFC marks the Full Court. Judgments are published on the courts' own sites, on AustLII and, for the High Court, as judgment summaries.

The Federal Court's judgment site and AustLII block automated access, so some records rest on case notes. Each table row gives court, citation and date so the original can be found, and the whole record is available as a download: open data: download the case records.

Questions people ask

Is there a Crown or Star class action payout right now?

Not one you can join: the Crown settlements are closed (Zantran paid registered members in 2022, Lieberman made interim payments in July 2026 and pays the balance after the third installment due 10 May 2027), the Star class action has no settlement and closed registration on 26 September 2024, and all three paid or will pay shareholders, not gamblers. The class-action rules are in gambling class actions in Australia.

What is happening with the Sportsbet class action?

The trial ran from 3 August 2026 before Craig J and judgment is reserved; opt-out closed on 13 February 2026, anyone who lost a Fast Code bet between 24 December 2018 and 24 December 2024 is a group member automatically, and any recovery would be net losses less the 33 percent group costs order. Racing bets are excluded. See the Sportsbet lawsuits page.

For how class actions in Australia work, read the guide on gambling class actions in Australia.

Can I sue a casino or bookmaker in Australia for my losses?

You can file, and three plaintiffs have since 2023, but no such claim has succeeded at judgment: Kakavas (2013), Reynolds (2001), Foroughi (2007) and Guy (2018) were dismissed and Gassner, Fineff and Eddine are undecided. The grounds that have been tried are in can you sue a casino or sportsbook: grounds that have worked.

How much were Star and Crown fined by the court?

AUD 260 million for Star (Federal Court, 28 October 2026, four installments over 19 months) and AUD 450 million for Crown (11 July 2023, three installments over two years); the AUD 100 million and AUD 120 million fines by the NSW and Victorian casino regulators were administrative and are outside this record. Other regulator cases are at regulators and attorneys general in court.

What this page does not cover

New Zealand's cases sit on their own page, including the first common-law refund suits against offshore online casinos, filed in the Auckland High Court in March 2026 against SkyCity Online, bet365 and Super Group, none decided. The page is gambling lawsuits in New Zealand.

Regulator fines that never reached a court, such as the AUD 313,000 Sportsbet fine and the Victorian and NSW casino fines, are outside this record. Whether Sportsbet is legal is not decided here, beyond the fact that the class action concerns one product; browse the rest under all gambling lawsuits by category.

If gambling is causing harm, support is listed at gambling helplines by country.

Sources and method

Of the 5 cases on this page, 5 carry a status read directly from a judgment or court file; the rest rest on regulator releases, ASX announcements, law-firm case pages and trade press, each flagged in the generated tables, because the Federal Court's judgment database refuses automated access.

Primary sources are Federal Court judgments as accessible, Supreme Court of Victoria group proceedings pages and judgments, High Court judgment summaries, ASX announcements, and ASIC, ACCC and DIA releases.

Law-firm pages and trade press are cited "as reported" and are never the sole source of a status. How cases are recorded and checked is explained in our methodology.

GamblingLawsuits.org is a non-profit public record. It is not a law firm and not a claims administrator, it refers no one to a lawyer and links to no operator, and filing a claim through the official administrators is free. Errors can be reported through corrections.