Aussie Scoops $13M from the Oz Lotto, Prize Still Unclaimed

The Oz Lotto (operated by the Lott) has announced that a new jackpot winner has been minted, with an unknown individual securing AUD 20 million ($13 million) during the Tuesday night draw.

However, the person had not registered their ticket digitally, which means that if they had misplaced the physical copy or worse still, forgotten about it, they may be none the wiser about their tremendous turn of good fortune.

Lottery Jackpot Not Logged into the Digital App, Making It Harder to Find Winner

The Lotto has long been championing the importance of registering player tickets through the dedicated digital app to avoid similar pickles. While it has been just a handful of days, the Lotto has publicized the winning and encouraged winners to check their tickets.

Whoever might have won, though, need not hurry, as the lottery allows for six years before claiming the prize. The player, who is based in New South Wales, won on 21, 17, 43, 25, 12, 18, and 14, with the supplementary numbers listed as 15, 42, and 24.

The Lott hurried to doom-monger, too, part of its strategy to get more people to register their tickets right away in the digital app. The Lott spokesperson, Khat McIntyre, harped on the same tune in a public statement:

“It’s possible this mystery winner is waking up and heading to work with no idea they’ve scored  AUD 20 million. Imagine how your plans for the rest of the day and the rest of your life might change with a prize of this magnitude.”

Unclaimed jackpots are usually transferred to a relevant state revenue officer or another branch of government or institution. However, this is not always the case. In the state of Victoria, for example, the lottery prizes do not expire and may be claimed indefinitely.

Lottery Jackpots Are Seldom Unclaimed, But It Happens

However, it could pose a logistical challenge for the lottery to hold onto the jackpot money, which is why most lotteries, including the Lott, prefer to settle with the potential winners.

To help identify the winner, the Lott has also released information on where the ticket was bought – at a Broadway Newsagency at Broadway Shopping Centre.

However, with so many people buying lottery tickets out of habit and never expecting to win (or check), prizes do go unclaimed all the time. However, the prizes are seldom too big. At the end of 2024, for example, there were unclaimed jackpots worth about AUD 21.42 million (around $13.68 million).