Security controls at Burswood Casino to be tightened

10/8/94

Security and surveillance controls at Burswood Casino would be tightened following the inappropriate videotaping some years ago of the activities of patrons and staff, Racing and Gaming Minister Max Evans said today.

Tabling the Gaming Commission's report into the incident in the Legislative Council, Mr Evans said that while the Gaming Commission concluded that improper use of the casino video surveillance system had ceased, there was a need for stronger controls.

The Minister said the investigation initiated by the casino operator to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the monitoring, recording and removal of the video tape was continuing.

However, Mr Evans said the right of the casino operator to use video surveillance techniques was not in question.

"One thing this has taught us all, including members of the public, is that it would be pretty hard to get away with any sort of wrongdoing at the casino," Mr Evans said.

"In itself that can only be a good thing, and the public can be reassured by the high level of security at Burswood in so far as it relates to their safety and the integrity of their gaming.

"Having said that, it would be foolish to suggest the system can't be improved upon, and while the controls on video surveillance may have been considered appropriate when they were introduced a decade or so ago, improvements can - and will - be made."

The changes include:

·       the Gaming Commission requiring surveillance operators and the Casino Control Division to adhere to a Code of Conduct approved by the Commission;

·       increased random checks of surveillance operators' personal baggage to be conducted by security officers at the casino's staff entrance;

·       the number of tape dubbing facilities reduced to one, to be located in the casino's Surveillance Monitor Room;

·       dubbing of video tapes to be properly authorised by Surveillance Management;

·       a minimum number of surveillance operators and supervisors on duty in the Surveillance Monitor Room to be included in the Principal Directions issued to the casino licensee; and -

·       independent reviews of recorded video tapes to be conducted on a regular basis by senior security and surveillance management and by the casino's Internal Audit Department.

Mr Evans said the video incident was not a failure of the casino operator, but a failure of a person or persons prepared to deviate from the rules and procedures under which they were employed.

The Minister pointed out that 97 per cent of the incidents recorded on the 'bloopers' tape occurred over five years ago.

"All casino employees are subject to a thorough investigation by the Commissioner of Police and the Gaming Commission, so the operator is entitled to assume they are people of honesty and good character," Mr Evans said.

"The functions expected to be carried out by these employees are extensively documented in Policy and Procedure Manuals, which are approved by the Gaming Commission, and the casino operator rightly expects its staff to perform their duties in strict accordance with these policies and procedures.

"Regrettably, a person or persons bent the rules to compile a blooper tape containing 108 incidents, of which 105 occurred between 1986 and 1988, and police investigations into the identity of whoever is responsible are continuing."

"I am pleased the casino operator took action to end the practice," Mr Evans said.

Media contact:  Tony Barker-May 366 0300