The financial crimes watchdog has ordered the state’s second most profitable club to appoint an external auditor to assess whether it has left itself open to criminal infiltration, as it broadens its crackdown on money laundering in suburban clubs.
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has ordered Bankstown Sports Club to obtain an independent assessment on whether its anti-money laundering controls are sufficient to prevent its 745 poker machines from being exploited by organised crime.
The order follows AUSTRAC’s civil prosecution of the state’s most profitable club group Mounties, which has admitted that it allowed at least $226 million to be “washed” by its machines over a five-year period and is facing a penalty in the tens of millions of dollars.
Criminals can use poker machines to conceal their income from illegal activities by disguising it as legitimate winnings. The most straightforward method is to stuff banknotes into the machines and then cash out with little or no play. Another one is to purchase winning tickets from genuine players and then redeem the vouchers.
Court documents tendered in the Mounties case indicated that some individuals were able to launder tens of millions of dollars through the pokies.
One woman who described her job as “home duties” was identified handing wads of $100 bills to associates who inserted them into poker machines and then cashed them out with zero turnover, before handing the winnings back to her.
Bankstown Sports Club had 142 more poker machines than Mounties at the last count in late 2025, but was ranked number two behind Mounties for its net profit from gambling.
AUSTRAC acting chief executive Katie Miller said clubs and pubs sat on the frontline of Australia’s fight against money laundering, particularly where large amounts of cash and poker machines were involved.
“That’s why it’s critical clubs and pubs understand their risks, have strong controls in place and report suspicious activity,” Miller said.
“Money laundering fuels organised crime and all the harm that comes with it.”
Bankstown Sports Club said in a statement that it took its regulatory obligations “extremely seriously”.
“Bankstown Sports takes its regulatory obligations as a registered club in NSW extremely seriously,” the statement said.
“Our board of directors and CEO are committed to working closely with AUSTRAC as part of the external audit process and we welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities in this space.”
The audit will examine whether the club has an effective anti-money laundering program in place, whether it has conducted an appropriate risk assessment of its customers and whether it has adequate systems to monitor customers and identify suspicious behaviour.
The NSW Crime Commission found in 2022 that billions of dollars in dirty cash was being funnelled through the state’s poker machines and recommended that the government introduce mandatory cashless gambling.
Premier Chris Minns appointed an independent panel to trial and make recommendations about cashless gaming, but has yet to respond to its 2024 report.
NSW residents lost a record $9.3 billion on pokies last year.
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