Why more division one lottery winners are keeping it a secret

New research from the latest Annual Winners Survey revealed that one in 10 division one lottery winners (9%)* would tell no one that they won a prize – not a friend, family member or even their partner.

That’s 1% higher than last year’s survey, and 4% more compared with 2024 insights. While the surveyed group has varied each year, there’s a unique trend of major lottery winners keeping it a secret.

Secrecy vs. sharing

Lottery players have shared with us that they would choose to keep their win to themselves to maintain their privacy, plan an anonymous good deed, or take time to decide how to spend their prize before telling others.

Even so, the Annual Winners Survey indicated that most division one winners would tell their nearest and dearest, with some having shared they:

“Took the kids out for dinner and a little shopping spree, then bought a bottle of wine to share with my best friend and told her about the win. She thought I was joking! It was an amazing day I’ll never forget.”

“Had dinner with my family that night and contacted a few close friends who said I was the most deserving winner.”

Protecting winners’ privacy

Unlike other overseas lottery games, in Australia all our players’ personal information is protected in accordance with the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) (Privacy Act), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and this Privacy Policy.

So, when we contact a major prize winner following a lottery draw, we always check what details they would be comfortable sharing publicly, such as their suburb or region. You have the right to choose to remain completely anonymous.

If you won, rest assured your secret is safe with us, but could you keep it under wraps too?

*The Lott Annual Winners Report has been compiled from data collected through a survey distributed to division one winners across all lottery games in The Lott’s jurisdictions between 1 January and 31 December 2025.