The Star Brisbane Casino Australia

Queen’s Wharf and How It All Started

The Star Brisbane did not appear out of thin air. It stepped into the space left by Treasury Brisbane, the long-serving CBD casino that finally closed on 25 August 2024 after decades in the heritage buildings near the river. Only three days later, on 29 August 2024, The Star Brisbane switched on as the centrepiece of Queen’s Wharf Brisbane - a 12-hectare riverfront precinct that runs along the Brisbane River in the middle of the CBD.

Queen’s Wharf is set up as an integrated resort rather than a stand-alone casino. The size of the project is hard to grasp until you actually walk through it. You have gaming floors, hotel towers, dining outlets, cocktail bars, a live entertainment venue, and a public sky deck stacked into a site that used to hold a smaller, far older casino setup.

The casino licence sits with Destination Brisbane Consortium Integrated Resort Operations Pty Ltd. It operates under Queensland’s Casino Control Act 1982 and is supervised by the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation. The licence lasts 99 years. Alongside that, there is a 25-year period where no other casino can operate within 60 kilometres of the Brisbane CBD. That exclusivity was baked into the original agreement and matters a lot commercially.

What the Gaming Floor Actually Looks Like

The main gaming level combines electronic gaming machines with table games spread across different zones. Up to 2,500 EGMs are approved for the casino, which puts the venue among the larger operations in Queensland based purely on machine capacity. On the tables, players will recognise the standard Australian casino mix: baccarat, blackjack, roulette and several poker-style variants. Premium rooms sit away from the bustle of the main floor and are set up for higher-stakes play with a bit more privacy.

Staff work the floor in all areas, and entry to the casino is only allowed with valid photo ID, in line with Queensland regulations. This is the same requirement that applies to every licensed casino in the state and not something unique to The Star Brisbane.

There is another layer. The casino runs under an approved remediation plan connected to findings made against The Star Entertainment Group. In 2022, an independent review known as the Gotterson Report concluded that the group was unsuitable to hold casino licences in Queensland. That was a serious result. Following the report, external advisor Nicholas Weeks was appointed to oversee Queensland casino operations, adding direct external supervision on top of the normal licence conditions. The Star Brisbane started its life under that framework rather than moving into it later.

Hotels, Dining and the Rest of the Precinct

On the accommodation side, The Star Grand Hotel is the current anchor. It has 340 rooms, including penthouse suites. Two additional hotels - Dorsett and Rosewood - are planned to open in stages as Queen’s Wharf rolls out fully. Those properties were not operating at the August 2024 launch, and their exact opening dates have shifted over time.

Food and drink are spread through multiple outlets in the precinct. Sokyo and Fat Noodle appear among the named restaurant options, while the Food Quarter handles fast and casual meals. For drinks, there is the Cherry cocktail bar, a sports bar, plus a lobby bar, each pitched at slightly different occasions and crowds. For a single riverfront precinct, the variety is decent, although not every venue was pouring drinks or serving food from day one.

The Sky Deck sits slightly apart from the rest. It is a public viewing platform above the Brisbane River, open as part of the broader precinct experience rather than reserved for hotel guests or casino patrons only. Inside the resort, LiveWire is set up as the live entertainment venue. An event centre and a ballroom round things out for conferences, corporate events and private functions.

For anyone planning a visit around a specific venue, it is worth double-checking what is operating on the day. Because the precinct has been opening in phases since August 2024, some outlets come online later or close temporarily, and the list on paper does not always match what is trading in real time.

Ownership - and How It Changed Fast

Queen’s Wharf was built by the Destination Brisbane Consortium, a joint venture that initially included three parties: The Star Entertainment Group with a 50 percent share, alongside Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium. That structure was still in place when The Star Brisbane casino opened in August 2024.

By March 2025 the picture had changed. The Star Entertainment Group agreed to sell its 50 percent interest in the project to its two partners for around AU$53 million. Coverage at the time described it as a distressed sale. The Star was under financial pressure and looking to cut debt, and this transaction formed part of that process. After the sale, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium each held a half share in the Queen’s Wharf project.

The Star did not completely disappear overnight. It remained in a transitional management role, continuing to provide operating services for a set period. Public reporting had not pinned down the exact end date of this arrangement in detail. Throughout this shift in ownership, the casino licence stayed where it was - with Destination Brisbane Consortium Integrated Resort Operations Pty Ltd. That distinction is important: the entity holding the licence did not change, even though the underlying ownership of the consortium moved around it.

Regulatory History - the Short Version

The Star Entertainment Group’s presence in Queensland has attracted close regulatory attention for several years. The Gotterson Report in 2022, with its finding that the group was unsuitable to hold casino licences in the state, was the headline moment. It was not the only one. The group was also fined AU$140,000 after being found guilty of eleven offences linked to the operation of its Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos. Those breaches all sit before The Star Brisbane opened, but they feed directly into the environment that surrounds the new venue.

So the remediation plan, the appointment of the external advisor, and the ongoing oversight are not just background details. They frame how the casino is allowed to operate. All of it sits under the Casino Control Act 1982 (Qld). The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation runs the public register of casino licence holders, where The Star Brisbane is shown under Destination Brisbane Consortium Integrated Resort Operations Pty Ltd on the Queensland government licensing pages.

A practical thing to keep in mind for visitors: in casinos operating under a remediation framework, responsible gambling tools and information generally appear front and centre. Self-exclusion options, help contacts, printed material - they tend to be more visible than at a standard venue and worth paying attention to if you need them.

Getting There and What to Expect on Arrival

The Queen’s Wharf precinct sits right on the Brisbane River inside the CBD, so it is walkable from most of the central city. Public transport stops are located nearby, and on-site parking is available within the development for those driving in.

Arriving at the casino floor is a fairly simple process:

1. Show valid photo identification at the casino entrance.
2. Head to the main gaming floor or ask for premium rooms if you prefer higher-stakes or quieter play.
3. Check the LiveWire entertainment schedule if you want to combine gaming with a show.
4. Eat before, during or after - through the Food Quarter for something quick or at one of the named restaurants if you want a sit-down meal.
5. Leave some time for the Sky Deck, which is accessed separately from the casino itself.

Rooms at The Star Grand Hotel can be booked through the precinct’s regular booking channels. On the gaming floor and around key entry points, responsible gambling resources are provided in line with Queensland licence conditions and the specific requirements of the remediation plan.

The Star Brisbane has quickly become one of the most closely watched casino openings in Australian history. Regulatory scrutiny, a significant ownership reshuffle and a staged precinct rollout have all come together around a venue that has only been trading since the middle of 2024. Whether things eventually settle into a quieter pattern is something that can only be seen over time.