The bright yellow box, covered with cute cartoon characters, sits among other vending machines and arcade games in one of Sydney’s busiest shopping centres.
Behind its glass screen, the so-called Lucky Box is packed with neatly stacked rows of mystery boxes, each about the size of a children’s lunchbox. The boxes look identical, but each holds a hidden prize. Pay $20, pick a box number and the machine will spit it out, like a packet of chips from a standard vending machine.
On Lucky Box’s website and Instagram account, people show off PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles they have won. Other photos show children, teens and adults holding up cards identifying their prizes, from movie tickets and portable phone chargers to AirPods, Dyson hair curlers and UFC tickets. When Guardian Australia tried a machine, we unboxed a fake crystal called a “rainbow catcher”.
“Major” prizes come via a hologram ticket in the box, and Lucky Box posts out the prize. Ahead of Christmas, Lucky Box promoted a $7,999 prize (2 x return flights to Japan, 85-inch television, PS5 console and a Lego Hogwarts castle).
Gambling reform advocates are concerned the machines could be encouraging young children and teens to gamble and say they want restrictions placed on their use.
But the machines fall into a “grey area” of regulation, advocates say, making it unclear which agency is responsible for their oversight. There are 35 Lucky Box machines at locations along Australia’s east coast, according to the company’s website: 25 in New South Wales, four in Victoria and six in Queensland.
The Lucky Box website says each box “contains an item packed on a random basis out of a large selection of items”. There is “no guarantee” on what each Lucky Box may contain, it says, or that any box contains “any of the prizes detailed on any signage at any point in time”.
Wesley Mission, a long-term campaigner for stronger gambling restrictions, has reported Lucky Box to the NSW department of hospitality and racing, which works alongside the state’s gambling regulator – the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
The mission’s general manager, Jim Wackett, argues Lucky Boxes “are a gambling machine” and “should be treated as such”.
“In the current form, they should not be in places where people under the age of 18 can access them,” he says. “They should not be in public facilities the way they are at the moment.”
But, as Wackett points out, there is an “impasse” over who is in charge of regulating the machines and whether they can, in fact, be considered a form of gambling.
But the agency does not consider Lucky Box its responsibility because the machines are in unlicensed venues, such as shopping centres, rather than pubs, clubs or casinos.
A spokesperson for the agency confirmed it had received a report regarding Lucky Box but it had determined they did not fall within their jurisdiction after assessing the product.
Fair Trading NSW does not consider Lucky Box to fall under its jurisdiction either. The consumer regulator declined to comment when contacted by Guardian Australia.
After Wesley Mission reported Lucky Box to the state government, the LGA referred the company to NSW police for an investigation into whether it raises any issues under the state’s Unlawful Gambling Act.
However, a NSW police spokesperson said they assessed the referral and determined it was not a police matter as it “does not fall under relevant legislation”.
On its website, Lucky Box says its “core mission” is “creating to [sic] surprise and delight the world!” and that “we use our intelligent vending machines to provide players with valuable and amazing surprises!” In detailed terms and conditions on its website Lucky Box say their “product information and any products sold … are intended to comply with Australian laws and regulations”.
According to documents filed with the corporate regulator, Lucky Box is owned by the company JB Equipment Service Pty Ltd, at a NSW address.
Assoc Prof Alex Russell, from the University of Central Queensland’s experimental gambling research lab, says there are “a lot of similar products” to Lucky Box that blur the lines of what is categorised as gambling.
“It’s a tricky one, because … the question of whether it’s gambling or not is often really quite technical,” Russell says.
“The definition of gambling that we usually use is that you put something of value in [and] you’re trying to win something of value, and there’s a degree of chance in terms of whether you win or not.”
Russell says whether or not Lucky Boxes constitute gambling is “a bit of a murky one”. But he is concerned that these types of products are unregulated.
“They’re available to people who are under 18, because they’re not considered gambling products,” he says. Playing the Lucky Box machines mean “young people are getting a taste of gambling, and there are some concerns that it might sort of groom them to take part in gambling later on”.
Northern Sydney local health district recently conducted a study involving 175 year 10 students who were asked to submit photographs or screenshots, along with captions, of gambling advertisements or related activities they came across in their daily lives.
Some students sent in photos of arcade games and prize box machines. Lucky Box was not specifically identified or mentioned in the study.
“Young people identified various arcade games and prize-box centres as having casino-style elements and considered them to be gambling-like activities that are directly marketed toward young people,” the study said.
While the study said it wasn’t clear to what extent young people’s use of “casino-style arcade games” influenced gambling behaviour and related harm later in life, it noted there were “currently no regulations or restrictions on the use of these machines”.
Wackett says the law should be changed to more clearly define what can be considered gambling.
“One of the issues is the law needs to be pretty black and white about what’s allowed and what’s not,” he says. “It’s not just these machines. We see lots of products developed which suit the word of the law, but not the intent of the law.”
Guardian Australia has sought comment from Lucky Box.
• This article was amended on 31 March 2025. An earlier version said Wesley Mission reported Lucky Box to the NSW department of hospitality and gaming, which oversees the Liquor and Gaming Authority. This was corrected to Lucky Box being reported to the NSW department of hospitality and racing, which works alongside the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
