Melbourne Racing Club has been ordered to run a risk assessment of its lucrative gambling venues after it was revealed a 13-year-old boy twice played its poker machines.
The racing club has until June next year to deliver the independent review to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission.
Melbourne Racing Club has been ordered to review its poker machine venues.Credit: Jason South
It comes at a time that the MRC, which oversees Caulfield, Sandown and Mornington racecourses, has undergone dramatic leadership changes.
The club has parted ways with five senior executives across the past six months, including its head of legal risk and corporate affairs Damian Menz.
These changes followed a complete overhaul of the board under chairman John Kanga since August last year.
The MRC owns and operates 14 hotels and clubs under its Pegasus Leisure Group banner, facilities that returned a $45 million profit last financial year.
One of those venues, the Peninsula Club in Dromana, was fined $7000 without conviction by Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in February for breaching the Gambling Regulation Act.
The court heard a 13-year-old boy twice entered its gaming area and played poker machines on June 10, 2023.
On one of those occasions he was with adults and used a machine for five minutes without a staff member intervening.
The court took into account that the Peninsula Club had self-reported the breach and taken steps to prevent similar incidents happening again.
Chairman John Kanga at Caulfield Racecourse last October.Credit: Getty Images
The MRC was fined a further $60,000 by the VGCCC in March after three of its venues – the Peninsula Club, Steeples in Mornington and Ringwood hotel The Coach and Horses – allowed customers to use poker machines outside permitted trading hours on Good Friday last year.
The three gaming venues opened before noon.
The MRC came under scrutiny earlier this month after the board removed CEO Tom Reilly from office just three months after he started the role. It also appointed Tanya Fullarton as chief operating officer without advertising the position or conducting an interview process.
Fullarton is vice chair of the Thoroughbred Racehorse Association Board, sitting alongside chairman and billionaire racehorse owner Jonathan Munz.
MRC board member Barbara Saunders resigned on learning that Reilly would lose his job.
“I resigned because I had concerns about the lack of governance at the club and the removal of Tom Reilly from his position as CEO because, in my opinion, he was performing the role very well,” Saunders said at the time.
The MRC board then appointed Kanga as honorary executive chairman.
Since the start of the year, the MRC has parted ways with Reilly, and four senior staff members – Menz, chief financial officer Brent Westerbeek, head of commercial Alana Bray and head of racing and operations Jake Norton have resigned.
In a statement to this masthead regarding its racing operations, the MRC said: “Despite this disruption, the club is performing well and the transition has been smooth. The impact on the performance and staff has been positive, with Fullarton being well received and staff morale improving substantially.”
This masthead reached out to Menz, who declined to comment. Reilly has also declined to comment when previously contacted about his exit.
At board level, former chairman Matt Cain, former vice chairman Nick Hassett, Mark Pratt, Brooke Dawson, Scott Davidson and Jill Monk have all walked away in the past 12 months.
Former CEO Josh Blanksby resigned at the end of August after seven years in the role.
Kanga seized control of the board after filing a shock motion for a special general meeting in August last year. He was voted in as chairman in October.
His Save Our MRC movement swept to power on three key promises: saving Sandown Racecourse, returning the mounting yard to its original position in front of the Caulfield members’ stand, and scrapping plans to build a new $250 million grandstand at Caulfield.
In its statement, the MRC said it is “fully committed to upholding the highest standards of regulatory compliance, adherence to all legal requirements and industry best practice to prevent any form of underage gambling.
“Subsequent to a self-reported incident in June 2023 involving an underage individual entering one of our venues, the MRC made application to vary its licence conditions to include a one-off risk assessment with the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC).”
The MRC said it immediately introduced a range of measures to reinforce its zero-tolerance approach to under-age gambling, including “physical barriers and secured entry points; installation of glass doors with controlled access; comprehensive staff training on risk identification and ID verification; [and] enhanced signage and reconfigured floor layouts to improve visibility and patron monitoring.”
A Victorian gambling commission spokesperson told this masthead that the MRC was required to “commission an independent risk assessment at all of 14 of its venues and implement the recommended controls to prevent minors from entering poker machine areas”.
“The VGCCC has zero tolerance for breaches involving children,” the spokesperson said.
“Research tells us that people who begin gambling at a young age are at greater risk of developing gambling problems as an adult.
“Some examples of controls could include displaying clear signage that the poker machine room is only for adults and checking the identification of anyone who appears under 25 years of age before allowing them to enter a gaming area.”
Valley’s $70m rebuild deal
Moonee Valley Racing Club has awarded a $70 million civil works contract to construction company Symal to rebuild its racecourse.
Moonee Valley will shut its gates after this year’s October 25 Cox Plate to undergo an extreme 21-month makeover, which includes reshaping its unique amphitheatre circuit.
The contract includes earthworks, full track reconstruction, new racing infrastructure, upgraded underpasses, retaining walls and the installation of new track lighting.
“This appointment marks a significant milestone for the club as we prepare to embark on delivering our vision for ‘the Valley of tomorrow’ following the 2025 Ladbrokes Cox Plate Carnival,” Moonee Valley chair Adam Lennen said.
The club is yet to finalise plans for a new grandstand.
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