For avid Instant Scratch-Its lovers wondering where the top prizes were scratched during the past 12 months, Australia’s Instant Scratch-Its top prize postcodes have been revealed.
Between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018, there were 158 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across the Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $11.28 million in top prizes.
The largest individual top prize won on an Instant Scratch-Its during this period was $1 million, scored by an ACT shopper.
The latest data released by the Lott, Australia’s official lotteries, comes ahead of Father’s Day this Sunday – one of the busiest times of year for Instant Scratch-Its scratching.
The research found New South Wales was the state that enjoyed the most number of top prizes (see Table 1).
A total of 53 top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its were sold in New South Wales last financial year, delivering these winners more than $3.27 million in prize money.
However, it was Queensland that enjoyed the most top prize money won, with 49 top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its delivering more than $3.36 million to Sunshine State winners.
Victoria enjoyed 31 Instant Scratch-Its top prizes worth more than $2.13 million.
Table 1: The number and value of Instant Scratch-Its top prizes by state during FY18
| State / Territory | Number of top prizes won | Total value of top prizes |
| New South Wales | 53 | $3,271,838 |
| Queensland | 49 | $3,368,916 |
| Victoria | 31 | $2,138,826 |
| South Australia | 17 | $862,108 |
| Tasmania | 4 | $212,018 |
| ACT | 2 | $1,260,000 |
| NT | 2 | $175,000 |
The latest research also exposes the top prize postcodes for the past twelve months – the suburbs in each state that sold two or more top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its (Table 2).
Table 2: The 13 postcodes where multiple top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its were sold during FY18
| State | Postcode / Suburb | Number of top Prizes Won | Total Prizes | |
| 1 | QLD | 4655 – Pialba* | 4 | $130,000 |
| 2 | SA | 5608 – Whyalla* | 3 | $154,036 |
| 3 | QLD | 4118 – Browns Plains | 3 | $104,036 |
| 4 | NSW | 2148 – Prospect & Blacktown | 2 | $660,000 |
| 5 | VIC | 3072 – Preston | 2 | $285,000 |
| 6 | NSW | 2000 – Sydney CBD | 2 | $262,018 |
| 7 | NSW | 2540 – Vincentia | 2 | $125,000 |
| 8 | TAS | 7010 – Glenorchy* | 2 | $110,000 |
| 9 | VIC | 3020 – Sunshine | 2 | $100,000 |
| 10 | SA | 5169 - Seaford | 2 | $77,018 |
| 11 | QLD | 4114 – Kingston* | 2 | $52,018 |
| 12 | NSW | 2640 – Albury* | 2 | $18,886 |
| 13 | QLD | 4507 – Bribie Island & Woorim | 2 | $12,018 |
* Deontes that two of the top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its in these postcodes were sold by the same outlet
In Queensland, four (4) top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its tickets were sold in Pialba/Urraween (4655) with the wins totalling $130,000. Remarkably two of these top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its were sold at The Lucky Charm Hervey Bay.
The Sunshine State’s second biggest hotspot was the Brisbane postcode of Browns Plains (4118), where three (3) top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its worth $104,036 were sold.
In South Australia, Whyalla (5608) sold three (3) top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its worth $154,036. Impressively, Westland Newsagency sold two of these top prize winning tickets. The Adelaide suburbe of Seaford (5169) also saw two top prize wins worth $77,018.
In New South Wales, the the suburbs of Propsect & Blacktown (2148) enjoyed two top prizes worth a total of $660,000. Sydney CBD (2000), Vincentia (2540) and Albury (2640) also saw two top prize wins.
In Victoria, the the suburbs of Preston (3072) and Sunshine (3020) both enjoyed two top prizes – the former’s worth $285,000 and the later worth $100,000.
In Tasmania, Glenorchy (7010) had two of the state’s four top prize wins – both of these Instant Scratch-Its tickets were sold from Glenorchy Central Newsagency.
Table 3: Biggest individual Instant Scratch-Its top prizes won in each state and territory during FY18
| State / Territory | Postcodes where the top prize was won | Biggest individual top prize won |
| ACT | Kaleen (2617) | $1,000,000 |
| New South Wales | Prospect (2148) and Roseland (2196) | $650,000 |
| Queensland | Coolum (4573) | $260,000 |
| Victoria | Pakenham (3810) | $260,000 |
| South Australia | Ingle Farm (5098) | $260,000 |
| Northern Territory | Katherine (0850) | $150,000 |
| Tasmania | Glenorchy (7010) & Scottsdale (7260) | $100,000 |
The biggest individual Instant Scratch-It prize won in Australia during the past twelve months was one of the $1 million top prizes on the $20 Instant Millionaire’s Club ticket, which was won by a Kaleen (2617) shopper in the ACT in Februrary. This ticket still has another $1 million top prize up for grabs.
While Instant Scratch-Its top prizes could land anywhere, the Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said clusters of wins, or top prize postcodes, often emerged from year to year.
“During the past 12 months, our 158 thrilled Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners each took home a range of top prizes up to $1 million,” he said.
“Once they’ve scratched themselves a top prize, our winners often tell us they use their instant win in lots of special ways, from paying off the mortgage through to holidays. One winner told us they were going to buy a new car door!
“Many of our winners bought their top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket themselves. One young Sydney woman bought her Instant Scratch-Its ticket after a bird pooped on her, which she took as an omen and a sign of good things to come.
“Others received their winning ticket as a gift, such as for a birthday or Father’s Day. One of our top prize winners even found their Instant Scratch-Its tied to their Christmas lunch napkin.”
In addition to the top prize winners, Mr Hart said millions of other Instant Scratch-Its winners received tens of millions of dollars from other prize tiers last financial year.
“If you look at the back of an Instant Scratch-Its ticket, you’ll see that top prizes generally represent about 10% of the total prize pool for that specific game,” he said.
“So while each game has multiple top prizes, there are also tens of thousands of other tiered prizes within each game waiting to be won instantly.”
The latest range of Instant Scratch-Its tickets are available now at all official lottery outlets, just in time for Father’s Day.
It can happen in an instant. It could happen to you.
