Crown hangs on to Melbourne casino licence

Its behaviour was "illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative", but gaming group Crown will keep its Melbourne casino licence.

The final report of an eight-month royal commission into Crown Resorts, headed by former Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein QC, was made public on Tuesday.

"Within a very short time, the commission discovered that for many years Crown Melbourne had engaged in conduct that is, in a word, disgraceful," Mr Finkelstein wrote.

"This is a convenient shorthand for describing conduct that was variously illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative."

However, the commission did not push for Crown to immediately lose its Melbourne licence.

Instead, it was recommended Crown continue operating under the oversight of a Special Manager for two years while it undertakes comprehensive reforms.

The report also recommended banning junket tour operators and prohibiting any person from owning more than a five per cent stake in Crown shares.

Meanwhile, it recommended punters be made to set a daily, weekly or monthly time and loss limit before play.

It said they should also use the pokies for no more than three hours continuously before taking a 15-minute break, play for no more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period and no more than 36 hours per week.

The use of cash at Crown Melbourne is set to be phased out except for gaming transactions of $1000 or less, while gamblers will be required to play with a Crown card that identifies them and tracks their losses.

The Victorian government has accepted all 33 of the report recommendations, but will legislate the ability to cancel Crown's licence if, after two years, the company has not proven it has improved.

Nine of the recommendations will be addressed by legislation immediately, Gaming Minister Melissa Horne said on Tuesday.

This includes increasing the maximum penalty for any breaches of gambling law from $1 million to $100 million.

"We are creating the most stringent oversight of any casino in the country," Ms Horne told reporters.

"No longer will Crown's destiny be theirs to manage."

Stephen O'Bryan QC, the first commissioner for the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, has been appointed the special manager over Crown.

Crown's chief Steve McCann said the report's release provided a "way forward".

"We are embracing the challenges ahead of us as we work to restore our reputation and we are determined to get this right," Mr McCann said in a statement.

Crown also said it was reviewing the report and it would work constructively with the Victorian government.

"Crown has publicly apologised for these shortcomings and has committed to a whole-of-business transformation to ensure it meets the justifiably high standards set by government, regulators, shareholders and the community," it said.

In his report overview, Mr Finkelstein was damning.

"The catalogue of wrongdoing is alarming, all the more so because it was engaged in by a regulated entity whose privilege to hold a casino licence is dependent upon it being, at all times, a person of good character, honesty and integrity," it reads.

"It is difficult to grade the seriousness of the misconduct. Some was so callous that it is hard to imagine it could be engaged in by such a well-known corporation whose Melbourne Casino Complex is visited by millions annually."

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said while the inquiry exposed "shameful" conduct, Commissioner Finkelstein advised Crown Melbourne could remedy its faults.

"Crown can change and reform," Mr Andrews told reporters.

"(But) the onus has been reversed. They have to be a very different outfit - otherwise their licence ends in two years."

Shadow gaming minister Stephanie Ryan said Crown Melbourne was now on its "ninth life".

"Reform of the Casino will not be complete until there's been a thorough and frank investigation of the Victorian Government's dealings with Crown," she said.

"Victorians will expect nothing less than total reform of Crown Casino."