For Instant Scratch-Its aficionados 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 2018 and 30 June 2019, there were 118 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across the Lott’s jurisdictions that collectively took home more than $12.14 million in top prizes.
The largest top prize won on an Instant Scratch-Its during this period was $1.3 million, scored by two Queensland players who won $5,000 a week for five years on a $15 Live the Life ticket.
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 Queensland was the state that enjoyed the most number of top prizes (see Table 1).
A total of 42 top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its were sold in Queensland last financial year, delivering these winners more than $6.94 million in prize money.
New South Wales enjoyed 39 Instant Scratch-Its top prizes worth more than $2.92 million, while Victoria had 21 top prizes worth more than $1.38 million.
Table 1: The number and value of Instant Scratch-Its top prizes by state during FY19
| State / Territory | Number of top prizes won | Total value of top prizes |
| Queensland | 42 | $6,940,000 |
| New South Wales | 39 | $2,920,000 |
| Victoria | 21 | $1,385,000 |
| South Australia | 10 | $575,000 |
| ACT | 4 | $170,000 |
| NT | 1 | $52,000 |
| Tasmania | 1 | $100,000 |
The latest research also exposes the top prize postcodes for the past twelve months – the suburbs in each state that sold more than one top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its (Table 2).
Table 2: The 11 postcodes where multiple top-prize winning Instant Scratch-Its were sold during FY18
| State | Postcode | Suburb | Number of top prizes won | Total value of top prizes | |
| 1 | Qld | 4817 | Kirwan / Thuringowa | 2 | $1,550,000 |
| 2 | Qld | 4300 | Goodna* | 2 | $660,000 |
| 3 | Qld | 4505 | Burpengary* | 2 | $400,000 |
| 4 | Qld | 4506 | Morayfield* | 2 | $350,000 |
| 5 | Qld | 4510 | Caboolture/Beachmere | 2 | $150,000 |
| 6 | Qld | 4133 | Waterford* | 2 | $110,000 |
| 7 | SA | 5606 | Port Lincoln* | 2 | $60,000 |
| 8 | Vic | 3555 | Kangaroo Flat | 2 | $50,000 |
| 9 | NSW | 2261 | Bateau Bay/The Entrance | 2 | $35,000 |
| 10 | Vic | 3550 | Kennington/Bendigo | 2 | $35,000 |
| 11 | NSW | 2100 | Brookvale | 2 | $20,000 |
* Deontes that two of the top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its in these postcodes were sold by the same outlet
In Queensland, six postcodes each sold two top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its tickets, with Kirwan/Thuringowa (4817) leading the way with total top prize wins worth more than $1.55 million.
Five outlets sold two top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its tickets during the past financial year, including IGA Goodna (Qld), TSG Burpengary (Qld), Nextra Morayfield (Qld), Waterford Plaza News (Qld) and Terry White Chemists – Port Lincoln (SA).
Table 3: Biggest individual Instant Scratch-Its top prizes won in each state and territory during FY19
| State / Territory | Postcodes where the top prize was won | Biggest individual top prize won |
| Queensland | Kirwan (4817), Morningside (4170) | $1,300,000 |
| New South Wales | Marrickville (2204), Gosford (2250), Castle Hill (2154) | $260,000 |
| ACT | Chisholm (2905) | $100,000 |
| Victoria | Berwick (3806) | $260,000 |
| Tasmania | Burnie (7320) | $100,000 |
| South Australia | Morphett Vale (5162) | $200,000 |
| Northern Territory | Alice Springs (0870) | $52,000 |
The biggest Instant Scratch-It prize won in Australia during the past twelve months was $1.3 million – the top prize of $5,000 a week for five years on a $15 Live the Life ticket. This top prize was won twice, first by a Townsville man who planned to buy a new house and spend more time fishing, and then by a Morningside man who couldn’t wait to travel the world.
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 118 thrilled Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners each took home a range of top prizes up to $1.3 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 new homes and paying off the mortgage, through to holidays and a new car.
“One Victorian woman who won $100,000 planned to finally fulfil her long-held dream of owning a ‘big fancy Dyson’ vacuum cleaner.
“One Townsville retiree who had been impacted by the floods earlier this year described her $10,000 win as a ‘gold mine’ that would help her buy some of the things she needed around the house.
“For a Burnie man, winning $100,000 meant he could buy a new lounge suite and turn the heater up during the winter months.
“Many of our winners bought their top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket themselves as a treat to enjoy while having a break from their day-to-day lives. Others received their winning ticket as a gift, such as for a birthday, Christmas or Father’s Day.”
In addition to the top prize winners, Mr Hart said millions of other Instant Scratch-Its winners collectively scored hundreds of millions of dollars from all the prizes on their tickets 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.”
“In fact, in the 12 months to 30 June 2019, 4,182,602 winners pocketed more than $214.2 million in Instant Scratch-Its prizes.”
Get more out of your Instant Scratch-Its by joining the Scratch eClub at www.thelott.com. The Club offers monthly Birthday Draws and Second Chance Draws, which give you another chance to win on your non-winning tickets.
The latest range of Instant Scratch-Its tickets are available now at all official lottery outlets.
It can happen in an instant. It could happen to you.