Lotteries in Australia

Lotteries in Australia include various lottery related products licensed by The Lottery Corporation, The Lottery Office and Lotterywest Australian lottery companies. Lotteries operators are licensed at a state or territory level, and include both state government-owned, not-for-profit and private sector companies. Most major Lotteries have now moved into the online marketplace.

Major lotteries

As of February 2015, the major players in the lottery industry include:

The Lottery Corporation – In 2022, Tabcorp's Lotteries & Keno business demerged to form The Lottery Corporation – the leader in the Australian lotteries and Keno market, and one of the highest performing lottery businesses globally. The Lottery Corporation, an official Government licensed operator in all States of Australia apart from Western Australia. It operates under the "Tatts" brand in Victoria, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory. It also manages Queensland's Golden Casket Lottery Corporation, New South Wales Lotteries in NSW and the ACT and South Australian Lotteries in South Australia;
Lotterywest, the Western Australian Government-owned operator in Western Australia;
The Lottery Office, operating under Global Players Network Pty Ltd, which, since its inception in 2003, is 100% Australian owned and licensed. The Lottery Office issues real tickets in their Government approved Australian lotteries and matches them with tickets in corresponding overseas lottery draws, via the www.lotteryoffice.com.au website;
Intralot Australia, which operates under "Intralot" in Tasmania;
The publicly listed Jumbo Interactive, an online re-seller of lotteries operating as Ozlotteries; and
The privately owned company Netlotto, an online re-seller of lotteries via the netlotto.com.au website.

From 2007 to 2014, Intralot Australia held a lottery licence to sell Instant Scratch-its, Keno and bingo tickets in Victoria. The licence was sold to Tatts Group in October 2014.
State government-owned corporations were once a major sector in the industry. However, with The Lott, part of The Lottery Corporation, taking over operation of all state-owned lotteries apart from Western Australia, the only remaining state owned-and-operated lottery in Australia is Lotterywest in Western Australia.
Although the organisations are predominantly state-based, Australia has a number of national lottery games. Currently, The Lott and Lotterywest operate as a bloc to jointly conduct the national games, pooling their entries and winnings. For example, The Lott administers the [|Saturday Lotto], [|Oz Lotto] and [|Powerball] games on behalf of the bloc; similarly, South Australian Lotteries operated the [|Australian Soccer Pools] on behalf of the other operators. The major operators also market lottery games traditionally running in their own jurisdiction, however recently some of these have become "multi-state" games, if not national.
On 1 June 2016, Tattersall's created a national lottery brand called 'The Lott'. The brand encompasses all its jurisdictional lottery brands under this single entity. Corresponding with the change in branding, online lottery purchases were moved from Tatts.com to the new official lotteries website.
Australian lotteries are subject to many regulations, which generally vary by state. The minimum age to purchase lottery products is 18 in all states except for Western Australia, where the age was lowered to 16.
Most Australian lottery tickets do not include retailer sales commission; purchases often are not to the whole dollar.

Prize home lottery

A prize home lottery is a fundraising initiative typically operated by charitable organizations in Australia. These lotteries offer participants the chance to win high-value prizes, most notably luxury homes, often accompanied by additional items such as vehicles and household goods. The concept has become a popular method for charities to raise funds for community programs and medical research.
The main attraction of these lotteries is the prize home, often a newly built, architect-designed property in a desirable location. These homes are frequently valued at over AUD $3 million, making winners instant millionaires. In addition to the home, first prize packages often include a new car and premium household appliances.
Funds generated from prize home lotteries are directed toward charitable causes.

Lotto

Saturday Lotto

Saturday Lotto is a national Saturday night draw conducted by Tattersall's, and is syndicated to all Australian states and territories through the Australian Lotto Bloc. The game is marketed as TattsLotto in Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory; as Gold Lotto in Queensland; as X Lotto in South Australia and simply as Lotto or Saturday Lotto in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia.
In the absence of poker machines, the Victorian state government awarded Tattersall's the right to conduct a weekly lottery to raise additional revenue to complement the state's health system funding. The first TattsLotto draw, with the first prize of A$50,000, was on 24 June 1972, televised on HSV-7 Melbourne.
TattsLotto, which was the first of its type in Australia, was originally based on the European style 6-from-49 lotteries, where six numbers are selected from 40 in a standard game. Each week, six numbers and one supplementary number were mechanically drawn from a transparent barrel. Each televised draw was live-to air and witnessed by three officials, one from Tattersalls and two representatives from the government. From Draw 413, on 6 July 1985, the current standard game format, six from 45, was introduced to increase the chances at winning a prize. Also from this draw, an additional supplementary number was drawn.
Originally, players would complete an entry ticket of between two and 10 games, at a cost of A$0.60 per game. The ticket consisted of an original and a carbon copy. The player would present the ticket to an agent/seller who would validate both copies of the ticket by inserting the ticket into a designated cash register. The copy would be returned to the player and the original would be kept by the agent/seller and sent to Tattersalls prior to the next draw. In the 80s, the network of agents/sellers were computerised. This allowed a later closing time for each draw, scannable entries with printed tickets, randomly selected computer-generated tickets, more games per draw to be purchased, etc.
Variations to the standard game are commonly known as a system entry. These games cost extra but allow the player to increase their chances of winning. The more numbers selected per game, the greater the outlay. Subsequently, if the selected numbers are drawn, multiple prizes are won.
Currently, the game offers a First Division prize of approximately $4 million each week often shared between multiple winners, with regular $20 million "Superdraws" taking place approximately 6-7 times a year. In addition, there are Megadraws with jackpots of around $30 million. If there is no division 1 winner in TattsLotto it jackpots to at least $8 million, but this rarely happens; the most recent occurrence as of 2020 was in April 2020. A minimum of four standard games must be purchased at a cost of $0.65 per game, plus agent's commission.
In 2020, history was made when 27 winners won the superdraw.
The following prize divisions can be won :

Division	Winning Numbers Required	Probability	Cumulative Probability
1st Division	6	1 in 8,145,060	1 in 8,145,060
2nd Division	5 + supplementary	1 in 678,755	1 in 626,543
3rd Division	5	1 in 36,689	1 in 34,659
4th Division	4	1 in 733	1 in 718
5th Division	3 + one or both supplementary	1 in 297	1 in 210
6th Division	3	1 in 144	1 in 85

Weekday Windfall Lotto

Weekday Windfall is a national lottery game, administered by Tattersall's and played on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights.
Its current logo features a large purple hand holding dollar bills.
Entries cost $0.55 per game plus agent's commission.
The three weekly draws carry a Division 1 prize of $1 million for up to 6 division one winners.

History

5 November 1979: It began life as a New South Wales-only game administered by New South Wales Lotteries, holding its first draw.
1994: Oz Lotto is introduced in NSW, ending NSW Lotto's reign as the only lotto game played in the state
April 2004: The game was made identical in structure to Saturday Lotto: six winning numbers and two supplementary numbers are drawn from 45 balls, with its five winning divisions the same.
May 2006: NSW Lotto began expanding interstate, when the state lottery commissions in South Australia and Western Australia started selling tickets, replacing SA Lotto in the process.
13 October 2008: Tattersall's started selling Monday and Wednesday Lotto to its territories – having earlier lost the right to run Wednesday TattsLotto after June.
Monday 17 May 2010: In South Australia, the game was changed from "Lotto" to its original name in that state, X Lotto, coinciding with a new lotteries system – one change of which was the ability to recognise crosses on the Lotto entry form.
21 October 2013: Queensland's Golden Casket began selling tickets in Monday & Wednesday Lotto.
20 May 2024: Its name changed to Weekday Windfall. This rebrand added a Friday night draw and increased the number of winners that can get the division 1 prize to 6.
Significant Changes

NSW Lotteries has seen a number of changes since its introduction in 1979:

Originally a weekly game played on Mondays, a second "mid-week" draw was added on 21 November 1984. Originally on Wednesdays, this was moved to Thursdays between 1989 and 1996. It was returned to Wednesday following the introduction of Powerball on Thursday nights.
Originally a 6-from-40 game, the game was first expanded to 44 balls, and then to the current 45. The latest change, introduced on 19 April 2004, brought the NSW game in line with Saturday Lotto.
A second supplementary number was added on 20 August 1990.
NSW Lotto previously offered a "Double Up" option for an extra $0.15 per game, which doubled any winning Division 2 to 5 prizes. This was eliminated by the time Tattersall's joined the game.
From 19 April 2004 until 1 May 2006:
* Divisions 4 and 5 had fixed prizes of $20 and $10, respectively.
* Division 1 did not jackpot, and instead a "cash rolldown" applied: if there was no Division 1 winner, all Division 2 to 5 prizes were doubled.
From 26 February 2012
* Division 1 has a fixed prize of $1 million for each winner for up to four winners. In the event that more than four tickets have the winning numbers, the $4 million prize pool is shared among them.
* Division 1 no longer jackpots.
* Division 6 added.
Televised Lotto draws were shown only on the Nine Network's GO! Channel during the coverage of the London Olympics from July–August 2012, they continued to air on the Nine Network up until they aired for the last time on 30 December 2012. From 1 January 2013, Televised Lotto draws began to air solely on GO! as part of changes to the classification code of practice.
Its name changed to Weekday Windfall, and a Friday draw was added.