Ahead of this Thursday’s $80 million Powerball draw, millions of Australians are dreaming of scoring a life-changing win, however for 23 lottery players their lives may have already changed – they just don’t know it yet.
There are currently 23 unclaimed major prizes across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia worth $12,369,939.43 in total.
Among these are 11 unclaimed prizes from New South Wales worth more than $3.3 million, ten unclaimed prizes from Queensland worth more than $8.4 million , one unclaimed prize in Victoria worth $446,898.09 and one unclaimed prize in South Australia worth $100,000.
Since these winning tickets were not registered to a players card, the Lott has no way of identifying or contacting the mystery winners and uniting them with their prizes.
The Lott spokesperson Bronwyn Spencer said a spring clean could yield a life-changing result.
“Spring has sprung which means many Australians may be inspired to start cleaning out their cupboards, junk draws and car gloveboxes in a bid to start the new season afresh,” she said.
“That’s why we are imploring all spring cleaners who are in the midst of Marie Kondo-ing their houses to be vigilant for any old lottery tickets they may find as part of their cleaning frenzy.
“We’ve had past winners come forward after finding an old ticket in the back of a drawer, in the central console of their car and at the bottom of their handbag.
“Most recently a player claimed their prize months after the draw after realising their ticket had been sitting in a pile of papers on their kitchen table for weeks.
“With more than $12 million of unclaimed prizes at large, it’s worth checking any lottery tickets you come across. If you do discover an old ticket, make sure you check it online, via our app or in store to see if you are a winner.
“If you do discover you are one of the major prize winners we are searching for call 131 868 to being the process of claiming your prize!”
Queensland unclaimed prizes as at 3 September 2019
| Game | Draw | Draw date* | Selling outlet | Suburb | Total prize value |
| Wednesday Gold Lotto | 3315 | 22/01/2014 | NewsExtra DFO Cairns | Cairns, Qld | $2,000,000.00 |
| Saturday Gold Lotto | 3539 | 20/06/2015 | Nextra Morayfield Village | Morayfield, Qld | $1,000,000.00 |
| Monday Gold Lotto | 3618 | 19/12/2016 | Cotton Tree News | Maroochydore, Qld | $1,000,000.00 |
| Saturday Gold Lotto | 3699 | 31/12/2016 | Lutwyche News & Gifts | Lutwyche, Qld | $1,347,826.09 |
| Saturday Gold Lotto | 3787 | 4/11/2017 | Nextra Capalaba Park News | Capalaba, Qld | $369,059.13 |
| Saturday Gold Lotto | 3867 | 11/08/2018 | Golden Lucky News | Helensvale, Qld | $671,513.12 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1249 | 15/03/2019 | Nextra Wynnum Plaza | Wynnum West, QLD | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot | 10280 | 01/04/2019 | NewsExtra Springwood Mall | Springwood, QLD | $100,000.00 |
| Saturday Gold Lotto | 3961 | 06/07/2019 | Gatton Plaza Newsagency | Gatton, QLD | $774,838.34 |
| Saturday Gold Lotto | 3967 | 27/07/2019 | News Worx | Victoria Point, QLD | $1,000,000.00 |
*Editor’s note: this is the draw date, not the entry purchase date. Entries could have been purchased up to 10 weeks in advance of a draw.
New South Wales unclaimed prizes as at 3 September 2019
| Game | Draw | Draw date* | Selling outlet | Suburb | Total prize value |
| Saturday Lotto | 3447 | 2/08/2014 | Henry Deane Plaza Newsagency | Sydney, NSW | $400,009.97 |
| Saturday Lotto | 3891 | 3/11/2018 | Southgate Newsagency | Sylvania, NSW | $441,295.45 |
| Saturday Lotto | 3905 | 22/12/2018 | Connection Newsagency | Sydney, NSW | $1,018,499.24 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1235 | 28/02/2019 | Top End Katoomba | Katoomba, NSW | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1278 | 15/04/2019 | Yangoona Newsagency | Yangoona, NSW | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1299 | 07/05/2019 | Westfield Chatswood Newsagency | Chatswood, NSW | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1333 | 31/05/2019 | Lambton Nextra | Lambton, NSW | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1403 | 29/07/2019 | Anna Bay Newsagency & Post Office | Anna Bay, NSW | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1411 | 02/08/2019 | Governor Macquarie Drive Newsagency | Chipping Norton, NSW | $200,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot | 10306 | 20/08/2019 | Gifts N News @ Top Ryde | Ryde, NSW | $100,000.00 |
| Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot | 1441 | 26/08/2019 | Chatswood Interchange Newsagency | Chatswood, NSW | $200,000.00 |
*Editor’s note: this is the draw date, not the entry purchase date. Entries could have been purchased up to 10 weeks in advance of a draw.
Victorian unclaimed prizes as at 3 September 2019
| Game | Draw | Draw date* | Selling outlet | Suburb | Total prize value |
| TattsLotto | 3969 | 03/08/2019 | Klemms Authorised Newsagency | Mildura, VIC | $446,898.09 |
*Editor’s note: this is the draw date, not the entry purchase date. Entries could have been purchased up to 10 weeks in advance of a draw.
South Australian unclaimed prizes as at 3 September 2019
| Game | Draw | Draw date* | Selling outlet | Suburb | Total prize value |
| Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot | 10303 | 05/08/2019 | Kapunda Newsagency | Kapunda, SA | $100,000.00 |
*Editor’s note: this is the draw date, not the entry purchase date. Entries could have been purchased up to 10 weeks in advance of a draw.
The amount of time players have to claim their prizes varies from state to state. In Queensland, people have seven years, while in New South Wales it is six years. In Victoria, people have six months to claim their prize directly from Tatts, after this time it can be claimed from the Victorian State Revenue Office.
“It seems as though Queenslanders are the most shy in coming forward with a winning entry, with the state home to the largest amount of outstanding prize money to be claimed,” Ms Spencer said.
“The Sunshine State is also home to the oldest unclaimed prize, a $2 million win from January 2014. This winning ticket for Monday & Wednesday Gold Lotto draw 3315 was purchased at NewsExtra DFO Cairns.
“New South Wales takes the title of the state with the most unclaimed prizes with 11 prizes waiting to be claimed. The state also has the newest unclaimed prize from a draw as recent as last week.
“If you purchased an entry at any of these outlets during the days and weeks leading up to the draws in question, you could be one of our mystery winners!”
Ms Spencer also reminded players of the importance of registering their entries to a players card.
“For all those players planning on getting an entry into this week’s massive $80 million Powerball draw, we recommend registering your entry to a players card so your prize is secure and we can contact you directly with the good news of a big win,” she said.
“We will be standing by the phone on Thursday night ready to break the life-changing news to Australia’s newest multi-millionaire but we can only do that if you have registered your entry and kept your contact details up to date!”
Powerball draw 1216 closes at 7:30pm AEST on Thursday 5 September 2019.
Tickets can be purchased at any licensed lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via the Lott mobile app.
The Lott’s division one winning tally across all Australian lottery games has now reached 251 so far this calendar year.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, 10 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $398.5 million in prize money.
During this time, the biggest individual Powerball prize was $107,575,649.08, which was won by a Sydney healthcare worker on 17 January 2019. Her windfall set a new record for Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner.
The home of Australia’s Official Lotteries, the Lott operates and markets Australia’s leading lottery games customers know and love creating everyday winners, winning every day.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, more than 108 million winners took home more than $3.28 billion in prize money from their favourite games at the Lott, including TattsLotto, Monday and Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno, Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.