A Melbourne man won A$1 million after finding an old lottery ticket in his storage unit.

The man uncovered a few old tickets last week while searching for some other personal items.

“I was actually looking for my passport but stumbled across them and just thought I’d give them a scan and see what’s there,” he told 9News.

While his passport turned out to be expired, in a stroke of luck, the December 27 draw for Weekday Windfall won him a life-changing A$1 million ($1.1m).

“I’m just glad I didn’t throw them out,” he said.

The man, who remains anonymous, wasn’t sure how he would spend the winnings but said, “I can definitely get a new [passport] now”.

In New Zealand, lottery tickets can be claimed up to 12 months after the winners have been drawn, and Lotto previously told the Herald only 2% of prizes went unclaimed in an average year.

Of that 2%, some big winnings have not been collected in the past.

The largest cash prize to be returned to Lotto was a $3m ticket bought from a Masterton shop in 2003.