Try expired gift cards this week: NSW govt

A NSW minister is calling for people to hit the shops with old gift cards as part of an initiative looking at expired gift card regulation.

NSW shoppers are being urged to dust off expired gift cards and have a shot at redeeming them as part of a state government initiative.

NSW Regulation Minister Victor Dominello said expired cards waste millions of dollars and has asked shoppers to make a "special effort" to try to use expired gift cards this week, which is Fair Trading Week.

A survey has been set up on the Fair Trading website for shoppers to report if they had any luck and these results will be used to make a decision on changing regulations to better protect forgetful card owners.