Regulating the Game has given former UK Gambling Commission executive Tim Miller three roles at its 2027 conference in Sydney: keynote speaker, Conference Chair and judge for the RTG Global Awards.
The seventh edition of the conference will run from March 8 to March 10, 2027, at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
Miller is founder and managing director of GamReg Consulting, an independent advisory firm that draws on regulatory expertise to support the development of trusted, effective and well-regulated gambling markets worldwide.
“Tim has done the job at the highest level, in one of the most scrutinised markets in the world, and through a period of significant reform,” said Paul Newson, founder of Regulating the Game and principal at Vanguard Overwatch. “His keynote goes to something the sector rarely addresses directly, which is how regulators and operators actually work with one another and what it costs when that relationship sours.
“It is a timely question, because the black market is now the pressing challenge in most jurisdictions and marshalling an effective policy, regulatory and enforcement response against it is beyond what either regulators or operators can achieve on their own,” said Newson. “Having him chair a day of the program and sit on the awards panel gives delegates the benefit of that experience well beyond the plenary, and it is a considerable endorsement of the conference that he is giving it so generously.”
Miller to deliver keynote
Miller’s keynote, titled “Turning tension to trust: reimagining the regulator/operator relationship,” will examine the working relationship between regulators and licensees and argue that it should rest on a different basis.
He will draw on his time as a regulator to identify the sources of tension between the two sides and explain why it damages the interests of both. After that, he will present the illegal market as a shared adversary, since it brings an alignment of interests and opens the way to a different relationship. The talk will end with a blueprint for a New Collaboration Model and a call to action.
“The relationship between regulators and operators is too often adversarial, and both sides pay for it,” said Miller. “The growth of the illegal market gives us a common problem and, with it, a reason to work differently. I want to be candid about where the tension comes from, drawing on my own time as a regulator, and to set out a practical model for what a better relationship could look like and what it would take to get there.”
The organizers said the subject sits at the center of the 2027 program. Regulators and operators must respond to the same pressures, from illegal and unregulated supply to harm prevention, integrity and the credibility of the licensed channel, and the quality of the working relationship between them bears directly on whether those responses succeed.
Conference chair and awards judge
Miller will also serve as a Conference Chair for one day of the three-day program. Conference Chairs oversee a day of the conference, where they guide dialogue, set the tone, and direct discussion across the program’s central themes.
The third assignment places Miller on the independent judging panel for the 2027 RTG Global Awards. The panel will assess nominations across 12 categories that cover regulatory practice, integrity, harm prevention and sector contribution. When nominations opened in August, RTG indicated that a senior international regulatory figure would join the panel, and Miller is that figure.
Winners will be recognized at the RTG Global Awards Gala Dinner on the evening of March 9, 2027, at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
The record behind the appointments
Miller spent a decade in senior leadership at the UK Gambling Commission. In his post as executive director, he had oversight of one of the largest and most complex regulated gambling markets in the world.
He played a central role in the delivery of the most significant reform of the UK’s gambling regulatory framework in a generation, which followed the government’s review of the Gambling Act. According to the organizers, this work took place under sustained public, parliamentary and media scrutiny.
At the Commission, he led the creation of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, now one of the largest and most comprehensive gambling participation and prevalence studies of its kind globally.
He also led the development of the first National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, which set up a coordinated, cross-sector framework for harm prevention and reduction.
His international work includes advice to governments and regulators across multiple jurisdictions on regulatory policy, market design and reform. He served on the board of the Gambling Regulators European Forum and contributed to model internet gaming legislation with the US National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. He was also a member of the UK government’s Illegal Gambling Task Force.
Other names on the program
Miller joins a speaker lineup that includes: Daniel Tan, chief executive of Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority; Paul James, secretary for internal affairs and chief executive of the Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua; Brendan Thomas, chief executive officer of AUSTRAC; and Carolyn Lidgerwood, authority member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The Call for Speakers for Regulating the Game 2027 remains open until December 11, 2026. RTG also invites expressions of interest for Pitch!, MasterClass, Industry Spotlight and the remaining Conference Chair roles.
Nominations for the 2027 RTG Global Awards close on December 21, 2026, and finalists will be announced on February 1, 2027.
RTG will announce more speakers in the coming months.