How buying a US Powerball or EuroMillions ticket from Australia works
None of these games can be bought directly from an Australian address, so The Lottery Office buys the ticket for you. For all six of these matched lotteries, they purchase a real, physical ticket in the actual overseas draw using the numbers you chose, then pay you the exact amount if it wins.
In short: you choose your numbers, The Lottery Office buys the matching ticket before the real draw closes, and if it wins they collect the prize and pay you. The next section covers what Australian law actually says about lottery betting, and exactly where to check the current position.
See these six games at The Lottery Office →
Is this legal for Australians?
People mean different things by "play an overseas lottery from Australia." Here are the facts and the actual regulator to check, rather than our own reading of the law, we're not lawyers, and we won't pretend to be one here.
Why Lottoland's lottery betting was banned in 2019, and what happened next
The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Lottery Betting) Act 2018 made it illegal, from January 2019, to offer Australians a bet on the outcome of a lottery where no real ticket exists. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) administers this law and is the right place to check the current position: acma.gov.au.
The ban did not end Lottoland, and the timeline is longer than it looks. The Northern Territory stopped it betting on Australian lotteries from 30 November 2018, before the Commonwealth ban began. Lottoland then offered bets on financial market indices instead, and in Lottoland Australia Pty Ltd v ACMA [2019] NSWSC 1041 the New South Wales Supreme Court held those were not a prohibited interactive gambling service. Lottoland stopped offering them on 21 December 2023, and as at August 2026 it still trades in Australia with other betting products. What it never did was buy a ticket in the overseas draw, which is the part the next section is about.
Do you get a real overseas ticket, or an Australian one?
Northern Territory-licensed companies like The Lottery Office conduct their own Australian lotteries matched to the overseas draws, and buy a matching ticket in the overseas draw so they can pay out. The ticket you hold is the Australian one. Their Account Terms and Conditions are explicit that the overseas ticket is theirs and not yours: you will not own any Foreign Lottery Ticket and will make no claim in relation to the same. The same document states their Northern Territory Government Internet Gaming Licence, IGL1001, which is independently checkable on the NT Government's own licensing register. Whether a particular business model sits inside or outside the 2019 ban is a question for ACMA or a qualified lawyer to answer, not us, we're reporting what the licence is and what the service does, nothing more.
Buying a ticket in person
An Australian physically visiting Spain, the UK, Ireland or anywhere else above can buy a ticket like a local. That requires actually being there.
Is playing overseas lotteries from Australia about to be banned?
Confirmed as at 3 October 2026: this is law. The Interactive Gambling Amendment
(Gambling Reform) Act 2026 is Act No. 72 of 2026. It passed both Houses on 19 August 2026 and received Royal
Assent on 26 August 2026. Parts of it are already in force. The part that affects the games on this page, Schedule 4, commences on 1 January 2027.
What it does. Schedule 4, items 10 and 11, amend section 8D of the
Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to remove foreign-matched lotteries from the definition of an excluded lottery
service. A foreign-matched lottery is one where the prizes are determined by the outcome of a lottery conducted
outside Australia.
When. The Department of Infrastructure states that the reforms
commence from 1 January 2027, and lists addressing harmful and emerging online lottery products among them. On
the commencement clause in the Parliamentary Library's Bills Digest No. 8, 2026-27, dated 7 August 2026, that is
where Schedules 1 to 4 fall: sections 1 to 4 on Royal Assent, Schedules 1 to 4 on 1 January 2027, and Schedule 5
the day after Royal Assent.
Whether anything is grandfathered. The only transitional provision
the Bills Digest records is Schedule 5, item 4, and it covers wagering advertising on uniforms and at venues
until 31 December 2031. There is nothing of that kind for foreign-matched lotteries.
Which games. All six games covered on this page are matched to a
draw conducted outside Australia, so all six answer to the description Schedule 4 uses. What that means for any
particular operator, on or after that date, is a question for ACMA or a qualified lawyer, and not one we will
answer here.
What is still worth checking. The Act and its assent come from
Parliament, the commencement date from the department. The item-level detail does not: Schedule
4's items 10 and 11, the section 8D amendment and the Schedule 5 grandfathering all come from the Bills Digest,
read here as at 21 August 2026, which describes the Bill as introduced on 2 July 2026, before the amendments
agreed on 18 August. Read those against the Act as registered at
legislation.gov.au rather than
taking them from here.
Where New Zealand's rules differ
New Zealand's Gambling Act 2003 is separate legislation to Australia's, and as at August 2026 NZ has no direct equivalent of Australia's 2019 lottery-betting ban. Section 16 of that Act is a separate rule again, and it is about advertising rather than playing: it prohibits advertising overseas gambling in New Zealand. Whether it reaches a page like this one is for the Department of Internal Affairs or a qualified lawyer to answer, not us. The DIA publishes its own guidance on offshore gambling directly at dia.govt.nz, including a note that protection if something goes wrong depends on the laws of wherever the operator is actually licensed. That is the primary source to check rather than this paragraph, and the date on it is there because these rules can move.
What it costs, and what can change
- You're buying from an Australian company, licensed by the Northern Territory Government, not directly from the overseas lottery. Check the current terms and price on their site before you play.
- You pay and are paid in Australian dollars. For the draws held in another currency, The Lottery Office does the converting, at its own rate rather than one you pick or can see. Its site is where that figure comes from.
- Tax treatment varies by country and can change; The Lottery Office's own site has the current detail for each game.
- The odds are exactly what they are for each overseas draw, no matter which legal route gets your numbers into it.
Is The Lottery Office licensed, and who are we?
Southern Barrel is an independent site. We're not The Lottery Office and we're not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them, or by any of the overseas lottery operators named above. We don't sell tickets, hold funds or take payments for any lottery on this page, every purchase happens entirely on The Lottery Office's own site, under their own Northern Territory licence (Global Players Network Pty Ltd, IGL1001, independently checkable on the NT Government's licensing register).
Results and jackpots here are as published by The Lottery Office. The Australian dollar figures are theirs, not ours: they convert and round them for display, and we copy what they show. Jackpots change with every draw, so always confirm the exact current figure on their site before you play. We don't currently earn anything from the links on this page, if that changes, we'll say so plainly right here.
Lottery play is for adults 18+. If it's stopped being fun, Gambling Help Online is free, confidential and open 24/7 on 1800 858 858.
Frequently asked questions
Which international lotteries does this page cover?
Six of the games The Lottery Office sells in Australia: USA Power Lotto (matched to US Powerball), USA Mega Lotto (matched to US Mega Millions), UK Lotto, Irish Lotto, European Millions (matched to EuroMillions) and Italian Super Jackpot (matched to SuperEnalotto). They sell others besides these. These six are the ones we hold draw history for, so these six are the ones with a page here, each with its results, its shape panel and its generator.
Are the jackpots shown in Australian dollars?
Yes. Results and jackpots here are as published by The Lottery Office. The Australian dollar figures are theirs, not ours: they convert and round them for display, and we copy what they show. Jackpots change with every draw, so always confirm the exact current figure on their site before you play.
Is the advertised USA jackpot the amount a winner receives?
No. The Lottery Office states that USA Power Lotto and USA Mega Lotto jackpot prize amounts are advertised as the annuity amount and are subject to the equivalent US taxes applicable to the official overseas draw, and that a cash lump sum first prize option would provide a lesser amount. The other four games covered here are not advertised that way. Confirm the current figure and the conditions attached to it on their site before you play.
Does this page generate numbers for these lotteries?
Not on this page. Each of the six games has its own page here with a generator, a frequency grid and overdue numbers; this page is the results and next-jackpot summary across all six, with a link through to play.
Can Australians and Kiwis actually buy these tickets?
Not directly from the overseas operators. You buy a ticket in an Australian lottery conducted by a Northern Territory-licensed company such as The Lottery Office, which then buys a matching ticket in the overseas draw; the overseas ticket stays theirs, not yours; see "Is this legal for Australians?" above for the facts and where to check with ACMA directly.
The six games we cover: US Powerball, Mega Millions, EuroMillions, UK Lotto, Irish Lotto and SuperEnalotto
Each one has its own page here with its latest result, the shape of its last 90 draws,
a frequency grid, overdue numbers and a generator:
USA Power Lotto,
USA Mega Lotto,
UK Lotto,
Irish Lotto,
European Millions and
Italian Super Jackpot.
Every result we hold sits together on the results page.
References
1. The Lottery Office, official game rules and results pages for each lottery covered here: lotteryoffice.com.au/game-rules
2. The Lottery Office, official FAQ, on the ticket-matching process: lotteryoffice.com.au/faqs
3. Dundas Lawyers, explainer on the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth) and lottery betting vs. genuine wagering: dundaslawyers.com.au
4. Gambling Insider, on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Lottery Betting) Act 2018 and the ban on betting on lottery outcomes: gamblinginsider.com
5. New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, guidance on offshore gambling and individual legal exposure: dia.govt.nz
6. The Lottery Office, Account Terms and Conditions, which is where Internet Gaming Licence IGL1001 is stated and where the words quoted above appear: "you acknowledge and agree that you will not own any Foreign Lottery Ticket and will make no claim in relation to the same": lotteryoffice.com.au/account-terms-and-conditions
7. Australian Communications and Media Authority, on the Interactive Gambling Act and the lottery-betting prohibition, which is the regulator this page names and the primary source for the ban: acma.gov.au/about-interactive-gambling-act
8. Lottoland Australia Pty Ltd v ACMA [2019] NSWSC 1041, the New South Wales Supreme Court decision on whether betting on financial market indices was a prohibited interactive gambling service, which this page reports as what the court held rather than as our own reading of it.
9. Parliamentary Library, Bills Digest No. 8, 2026-27 (7 August 2026), on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, which is the source for the commencement clause quoted above. Cited by name rather than by link because the digest could not be reached to confirm its address.
10. Federal Register of Legislation, where the Act as registered and its actual commencement appear, and the place to confirm the item numbers above: legislation.gov.au
11. Parliament of Australia, bill page for the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, showing Status: Act, passage of both Houses on 19 August 2026 and Royal Assent on 26 August 2026 as Act No. 72 of 2026. Read 3 October 2026 and supplied by the site owner, because the page could not be reached from the refresh environment to confirm its address.
12. Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, gambling reforms page, on the reforms commencing from 1 January 2027 and on addressing harmful and emerging online lottery products being among them. Read 3 October 2026, and cited by name for the same reason.