Lotterywest was established in 1932 as the Lotteries Commission of Western Australia, to run the

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is referred to in the legislation as the Lotteries Commission. It distributes profits to a number of community beneficiaries, via both government departments and directly to

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

organisations. It is a major supporter of the

Perth Festival Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

, with the film festival component of it known as Lotterywest Films.

History

After its establishment in 1932, the Lotteries Commission held its first lottery and made its first grants distribution in March 1933.

Description

Lotterywest is a

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example reg ...

of the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

, under the ''Lotteries Commission Act 1990'' (WA) and associated regulations. Lotterywest sells

lottery ticket A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

s and "instant win" Scratch 'n’ Win tickets through a network of

newsagents A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand ( American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...

and other authorised retailers. It sells national lottery games including Saturday Lotto, Super66, Oz Lotto,

Powerball Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which also manages other large jackpot games such as t ...

Monday Monday is the day of the week that takes place between Sunday and Tuesday. According to the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 8601 standard, it is the first day of the week. Names The names of the day of the week were co ...

and Wednesday lotto; it also administers the locally run Cash 3 game.

Beneficiaries

After some of the money wagered on Lotterywest's games is returned to players as prize money, and operating costs and retailer commission are covered, the balance of the money is returned to the Western Australian community. The state's hospitals and health services, the Department of Sport & Recreation and the

Department of Culture & the Arts The Department of Culture and the Arts was part of the Government of Western Australia. Preceding authorities The earlier governmental agencies or authorities concerning the arts were advisory boards or councils; it was not until 1986 that the ...

, and specifically the

, are beneficiaries of Lotterywest funding as prescribed in the ''Lotteries Commission Act 1990''. As well as these beneficiaries, Lotterywest makes grants directly available to not-for-profit community groups and local government authorities for charitable and benevolent purposes. Lotterywest directly supports the Perth Festival, with the associated with the festival known as Lotterywest Films, as well as local screen funding body

Screenwest Screenwest is Western Australia's screen funding and development organisation, working in partnership with the screen industry to develop, support and promote film, television and digital media production in Western Australia. Screenwest receive ...

. Lotterywest provides funding following a formula prescribed in the ''Lotteries Commission Act 1990''. Of profits made (), it specifies that 40% of should go to the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, 5% to the Sports Lottery Account and another 5% to the Arts Lottery Account. The ministers responsible for each portfolio distributes the funds to various organisations. A further 12.5% is allocated to direct distribution by Lotterywest to eligible charitable and community organisations and local government authorities for charitable or benevolent purposes. An additional amount up to 5% is specified in the act for the Perth Festival, awarded to the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, which runs the Festival, and for the support of the Western Australian film industry, which is given to Screenwest.

References

{{Authority control Culture of Western Australia Government agencies established in 1932 Lotteries in Australia Statutory agencies of Western Australia 1932 establishments in Australia

History

Description

Beneficiaries

See also

References