lottery commission

The Lottery Corporation released its FY26 results and annual report this week. There is plenty in them for anyone with lotteries in their shop, including one number that will get less attention than it deserves: the migration of lottery sales online has stalled, for now.

The year in numbers

Lotteries turnover was $6,547 million, down 3.1%. TLC puts the fall down to a ‘bad’ run of jackpots, which it calls a 1 in roughly 45 year outcome, costing around $700 million in turnover. There was no $100 million-plus Powerball for the first time since FY21 and no $50 million-plus Oz Lotto for the first time since FY17.

That context matters. Soft lottery commission in FY26 was bad luck with jackpot sequences, not a collapse in play. Base games grew 5.6%. Saturday Lotto was up 9.4%. Instant Scratch-Its rose close to 8%, and scratchies are a retail product.

Digital migration has stalled, for now

Digital turnover fell 2.3% to $2,760 million. Retail turnover fell 3.8% to $3,787 million. Digital’s share of lottery turnover crept from 45.7% to 46.6%, and the share gains are shrinking each year: 2.3 points in FY24, 1.4 in FY25, 0.9 in FY26.

Digital sales have now gone backwards in dollars for two years running, from a jackpot-fuelled peak of $3,005 million in FY24. Retail still writes the majority of lottery turnover.

Before anyone celebrates, I have two cautions to share. Jackpot games skew digital, so a weak jackpot year flatters retail’s position. Some of this pause is mix, not migration reversing. And TLC’s strategy leaves no doubt about direction.

TLC describes itself as moving from a lottery operator to a digitally-led entertainment platform, calls digital its primary growth engine, is building a new app for 1H28 and wants to convert more than 4 million unregistered players into known, registered customers.

The shift online has slowed, not stopped.

What retailers should watch

A commission review is coming. In the FY27 priorities published by TLC is: “review retailer commission structure”. No detail is given. Individually and through our representative bodies, we need to engage early and argue for a structure that rewards service and performance rather than one that shrinks the pool

The network language has changed too. TLC now talks about its retail footprint as quality over quantity. Expect continued pressure on marginal outlets and higher expectations of those that stay. At 30 June 2026 there were 3,880 lottery outlets and 3,263 Keno venues, more than 7,100 points of distribution in all.

The channel is still valuable. TLC paid $637 million in commissions to retail and venue partners in FY26, and its CEO acknowledged those partners are primarily small businesses.

Price rises keep coming. Powerball went from $1.20 to $1.40 a game in November 2025 and held 63% of the increase. Set for Life goes from 60 cents to 70 cents in September 2026, with an Oz Lotto change slated for 1HFY28.

On integration, new terminals have been rolled out in NSW, the ACT and Queensland, with Victoria to follow. QR codes on unregistered tickets, digital prize claiming and Check & Collect blur the line between channels. Where TLC connects digital play back to a retailer, support it. Where it does not, ask why.

What I would do in-store

Nothing in these results changes my long-held advice. Don’t run a business reliant on lottery commission to survive. Lottery products bring traffic on thin margin, and around 30% of turnover from lottery commission is the most a well-balanced newsagency should rely on. Even though it is hard hard work, use the traffic to build baskets in cards, gifts and good margin categories. And watch that commission review like a hawk.

The point

TLC had a soft year because jackpots ran cold, not because Australians stopped playing. Digital sales fell and the migration online has stalled for now, while the company’s plans remain firmly digital. Retailers have been handed time and a warning in the same set of results. What we do with both is up to us.

General commentary, not financial advice.