The Australian State of Victoria is to appeal a court’s ruling that was liable to pay over AU$450m in compensation to gaming machine operator Tatts Group.
On June 26, the Supreme Court of Victoria found in favour of Tatts in the legal proceedings it brought against the state for compensation on the expiry of its gaming operator’s licence on August 15, 2012.
Tatts and Tabcorp controlled 27,000 gaming machines in Victoria until their licences expired as a result of the state’s reorganisation of the gaming market. Now, pubs and clubs are entitled to control machines themselves.
The court found the state liable to pay Tatts $451m, plus the $89m the company claims it is owed in interest.
Tatts said it welcomed the decision, which it claimed upheld an agreement entered into with the state in 1995. That agreement led to the state receiving substantial additional licence fees, it said, on the basis that the state would pay compensation if a new gaming operator’s licence was granted to anyone other than the company on the expiry of its own licence.
Today, however, the State of Victoria lodged an appeal in the Victorian Court of Appeal challenging the Supreme Court’s ruling.
