Victorians lost more money on the pokies in August this year than at any other time on record, except for the month after the Rudd government’s cash stimulus payments in 2008.

The data comes as gambling reform advocates criticise the state’s gaming minister, Marlene Kairouz, for agreeing to speak at what they describe as a “pokies industry conference” later this month.

The $246.2m lost in August 2018 was the second-largest monthly loss since records began in 1992, coming only behind the $250.016m lost in December 2008 following the federal government’s response to the global financial crisis, the Alliance for Gambling Reform said on Tuesday.

Losses during August were 5.3% higher than in the same month last year, while the year-to-date losses of $1.81bn meant the state was also on track for record losses in the 2018 calendar year.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform blamed the record figures on the government’s decision late last year to legislate new 20-year pokies licences, which it says has given the industry certainty of tenure to scale up marketing and invest in new machines.

Charles Livingstone, a gambling expert at Monash University, said poker machine losses were cyclical and tended to be highest in the middle of the year.

“This is associated with people’s budgeting,” he told Guardian Australia. “But generally the fact that we’ve had increasing in gambling expenditure that is well above inflation is a fairly recent trend.

“What it suggests is the industry is marketing new products, getting serious about how it markets its products, which means concentrating in areas where they make the most money.

“And, in Victoria’s case, I think it’s also largely attributable to the fact that now that the government has allowed them 20-year licences, starting in 2022, they’re starting to invest in new machines that are more lucrative [and] expand their marketing.”

The Alliance for Gambling Reform also took aim at Kairouz’s decision to speak at the Community Clubs Victoria (CCV) conference on 16 October. CCV’s members reportedly include nearly 200 clubs with pokies.

The conference, which will be held at a venue that has pokies in Melbourne’s west, is scheduled for two days after Victoria’s first ever Gambling Harm Awareness Week and will include a “showcase of exhibitors with the latest and greatest from club providers”, according to an event listing.

It will be held at the Deer Park Club, which is within the City of Brimbank, the local government area with the largest losses in the state. In 2017-18, punters lost $11.5m at the venue.

The director of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, said the minister should withdraw from the conference.

“It would be far more appropriate for the minister to meet with people harmed by gambling rather than the industry, which has received far too much favourable treatment from this government given the enormous harm it causes,” he said.

Livingstone said: “I think it’s a bad look … This isn’t about endorsing this industry, it’s about properly regulating it so that we minimise harm rather than celebrate the wonderful joys of pokies gambling.”

A government spokesman said: “The government is freezing pokies numbers across the state, limiting daily cash withdrawals in venues and capping the number of pokies in areas most vulnerable to gambling harm.”

“The minister for gaming, liquor and regulation attends a variety of events throughout the year that relate to gaming, liquor and regulation and that work will continue.”

The president of Community Clubs Victoria, Leon Wiegard, said the organisation was “pleased” to invite Kairouz to its annual conference.

“All products offered by clubs are legal (and) highly regulated and support the not-for-profit clubs’ reason for being and the wider community,” he said.

He did not respond to a question about the latest pokies losses data.