Record Powerball winning mum offers tips for Australia’s next millionaire

A mother who became a multi-millionaire overnight has offered three tips for Aussies hoping to win the record Powerball jackpot.

Aussies hoping to take home the biggest-ever individual lottery haul ahead of Powerball’s $160m jackpot on Thursday night have been offered some sage advice from the country’s current record-breaking winner.

With no division one winners declared during the past five Powerball draws, the $100m jackpot prize skyrocketed to an unprecedented amount for draw 1380, resulting in the biggest prize ever offered by an Australian lottery game.

There have only been nine draws which have offered a jackpot of $100m or more, and this Thursday’s draw is the biggest of the lot. Picture: Supplied by The Lott

A Sydney mother and nurse in her 40s became a multi-millionaire overnight and the country’s biggest individual lottery winner after taking home a recording-breaking $107m Powerball prize back in 2019.

She has shared three tips for Thursday’s potential lucky winner, starting with keeping things relaxed and normal despite their new-found life-changing wealth.

“My advice is, if it’s possible and you can stand it, wake up the next morning and go to work,” she said.

“In the beginning, it’s important to go about your usual day-to-day life while you really think about things.

“It gives you normality, and it allows the news to slowly sink in.”

But she said the most important step for any major lottery winner was to get good financial advice.

“Run, don’t walk, to a really good financial advisor,” she explained.

Getting good financial advice is important. Picture: The Lott

“It takes two weeks for the prize money to come through. I used those two weeks to engage a financial advisor who I really trusted.”

The Sydney nurse also said how the winner’s friends and loved ones responded would be telling.

“Take some time to think about who you might tell before you start sharing the news with your family and friends and let the story get out of the headlines first,” she said.

“If this news affects relationships in a negative way, then it’s probably time for that relationship to end anyway and that’s just natural.

“Honestly, everyone we told was in tears; genuine, happy tears!”

Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said it was expected that up to half of Australian adults would have an entry into the draw this week.

“While Australian lotteries have been operating for more than a century, there have only been nine draws that have offered a jackpot of $100m or more, and this Thursday’s draw is the biggest of the lot,” he Hart said.

“If just one person takes home this $160m prize on Thursday night, they’ll make history by becoming the nation’s biggest-ever individual lottery winner.

In 2019, a Sydney nurse became Australia’s current biggest individual lottery winner when she won more than $107m Picture: Supplied by The Lott

The previous record for Australia’s biggest lottery draw was a $150m Powerball draw held in September 2019, where three individuals shared the jackpot.

“In 2019, a Sydney nurse became Australia’s current biggest individual lottery winner when she won more than $107m,” Mr Hart said.

“While we’ve never had a $160m Powerball draw before, if previous big jackpots are anything to go by, we can expect it to get busier and busier at lottery outlets and online leading up to Thursday night’s draw.

In the year ending June 2022, 16 Powerball division one winning entries across Australia pocketed more than $681.7m in prize money.

Of those 16 Powerball division one winning entries, seven landed in NSW, four in Victoria, three in Queensland and two in Western Australia.

To be in with a chance, players will need to purchase an entry by 7.30pm AEST on Thursday.