Check your lottery tickets as $16million worth of prizes are unclaimed across Australia

Australians are missing out on millions of dollars with nearly two dozen people having unclaimed lottery tickets hidden somewhere in their homes.

There are currently 21 unclaimed division one and major lottery prizes across Australia worth $15,840,462.05.

NSW residents can claim the trophy for being the most forgetful lotto winners with 10 prizes to be claimed in the state, followed by Queensland with 8, two in the ACT and one in Victoria.

The highest unclaimed prize is a ‘Set For Life’ worth an eye-watering $4.8 million which won in April 2021 from a ticket purchased at Thistle Kiosk, Woden in the ACT.

There are six other winners who could cash in with at least a million dollars in winnings.

One of the most recent unclaimed prizes is a TattsLotto prize of $775,265.76 won in April from a ticket sold at Mernda Lucky Charm in Victoria.

Depending on where you live, there may be only a limited time you can come forward to claim any lotto winnings.

The highest unclaimed prize is a ‘Set For Life’ worth an eye-watering $4.8 million which won in April 2021 from a ticket purchased at Thistle Kiosk, Woden in the ACT

In Queensland, people have seven years to come forward, while NSW and ACT residents have six.

However in Victoria, people only have 12 months to claim directly from the lottery company and after that they must claim it directly from the government.

If the money is not claimed in the prize period, the prize will either go to the government, to the community via donations, or back to players in bonus draws depending on the jurisdiction.

People have taken years to come forward to claim their prize, with one man discovering his lottery ticket from the year before in a shopping bag while he was cleaning his car.

Depending on where you live, there may be only a limited time you can come forward to claim any lotto winnings 

He then checked if it was a winner and discovered he was a million dollars richer.

If you feel as though you’ve lost your ticket, there are some steps to take in order to get a replacement.

If your tickets are registered to a player card, you can call The Lott on 131 868 and they will send you a free ticket certificate or cheque in the mail.

If you have not registered the ticket, you will need to fill out a form to provide a variety of details about the ticket including what type, where it was purchase, time of purchase, and how it was paid for.

You will also have to pay a search fee of $15 or $22 in South Australia to find the ticket in the system.