A Sydney man has found a winning Powerball ticket worth $1.4 million after it sat for five and a half weeks collecting dust in his dresser.

A father from Kellyville was surprised to discover he was holding one of the seven winning entries for division one in the Saturday Lotto draw 4595, which took place on August 2. Each winning ticket claimed a prize of $1,428,571.43.

Since his ticket wasn’t registered with The Lott Members Club, the lottery officials couldn’t reach out to inform him, so they had to wait for him to realize his win on his own.

After not realising he’d become an instant millionaire, he says he was stunned when he discovered his good fortune.

“I had absolutely no idea,” he said.

“The ticket was just lying around at home until I decided to visit the newsagency to buy another ticket. I intended to replay the one I had, and that’s when I found out I had won,” he said.

“It was actually sitting on my dresser for the whole five weeks.”

He now plans to spend some of his newfound wealth helping his children buy a home.

The winning numbers in Saturday Lotto draw 4595 on August 2 were 24, 40, 42, 21, 45 and 1 while the supplementary numbers were 16 and 9.