A royal commission will examine whether the West Australian casino regulator effectively allowed Crown to self-regulate aspects of its Perth operations.
An interim report by the Perth Casino Royal Commission has made no formal findings or recommendations but flagged concerns over WA's regulatory settings.
The report was tabled in state parliament on Tuesday by Premier Mark McGowan, more than a month after it was received by the state government.
It highlights 10 issues the commission wishes to investigate further relating to whether the Gaming and Wagering Commission appropriately conducted its duties.
Among these is the extent to which the GWC "has altered and, arguably, relaxed the regulatory oversight of the Perth Casino without assessing adequately the effects of key regulatory changes".
The changes include the reduced use of inspectors, who have not been permanently present on the casino floor since mid-2015.
Other changes highlighted in the report include the deregulation of junket operations and a reduction of in-person supervision levels of table gaming.
"The PCRC is considering whether the GWC and/or the department assumed that the casino licensee could be relied on to accept more regulatory responsibility," the report said.
"If so, significant trust was placed in the Perth Casino to have their own controls in place so that the regulator only needed to ensure compliance with those controls."
The report also noted the relationship between the GWC and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, questioning whether part of the casino regulator's role had been "usurped" by the department.
The damning Bergin report released in NSW earlier this year found Crown had "enabled or facilitated" money laundering at its Perth casino through an account linked to a shell company, Riverbank Investments.
The WA inquiry has heard the GWC opted not to investigate allegations of money laundering against Crown after the company's "persuasive" former legal boss told them it was a media beat-up.
Former GWC members have said inspections and audits were carried out at the casino but none were specifically aimed at identifying money laundering or other criminal activity.
The inquiry has also heard GWC members lacked experience in increasingly complex casino regulation.
Evidence has also been aired about the state's former chief casino officer sharing regular fishing trips with two Crown employees.
The second phase of the inquiry is examining the suitability of Crown Perth to continue holding its WA casino licence.
Former Crown Resorts and Burswood Limited director John Poynton last week denied having any knowledge of the Riverbank company, despite it being a subsidiary of Burswood Limited.
He later took aim at Crown chair Helen Coonan, claiming she put him under "inappropriate" pressure to resign earlier this year.
The inquiry is due to deliver its final report in March 2022.
Australian Associated Press
