Mandatory closing hours, slower spin times and smaller spending limits will be used to minimise gambling harm in sweeping gambling reforms across Victoria.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and the gaming minister, Melissa Horne, announced a series of reforms for electronic gaming machines across the state on Sunday.

Under the changes, pokies in Victoria will require mandatory pre-commitment limits and carded play.

Load-up limits – how much money an individual can put into a gambling machine at a time – will be capped at $100, down from the current limit of $1,000. The changes are expected to be in place by the end of the year.

By mid-2024, mandatory closure periods will be enforced for all gambling machine areas in a venue between 4am and 10am – excluding Melbourne’s Crown casino.

The state government will also make it mandatory for all new poker machines to spin at a rate of three seconds a game, slowing the pace of the game down and limiting the amount that can be lost.

Caroline Crawford – a reformed gambler whose addiction led to her spending time in jail because she stole $400,000 from her employer to feed her habit – praised the changes. She said mandatory closing hours were an important part of the plan.

She said in her area there were two gaming venues: one that closed at 8am and the other opened at 8am. That effectively made it possible for locals to gamble 24 hours a day.

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“No one needs to be behind a machine at two or three in the morning. I’ve been there, I’ve seen what happens … it’s not pretty,” she said. “These changes just blow my mind.”

Andrews said it was important for his government to make the changes.

“These reforms will provide the strongest gambling harm preventions and anti-money laundering measures in Australia,” he said. “We owe it to all Victorians to take this stance and help those experiencing harm turn their lives around.”

Horne said everyone lost when it came to gambling.

“It’s not confined to money. People lose their relationships, their jobs and their wellbeing,” she said on Sunday.

“Our previous reforms have delivered stronger oversight of the gambling industry in Victoria with a regulator unafraid to hold venues to account. Now we’re doing more important work to reduce gambling-related harm.”

NSW is also looking to crack down on gambling harm and will begin trialling cashless gaming on poker machines within months.

The government will also ban gambling-related signs outside pubs and clubs.

It has also vowed to reduce the number of pokies in the state and impose a ban on political donations from clubs with gambling operations.

Since 1 July in NSW, players are only able to put $500 cash into machines at a time, down from $5,000.