Unclaimed and Lost Money is the money that “falls thru the crack” in situations where organisations and government agencies may have tried to return money that is rightfully owed to you, but they are unsuccessful because you may have moved house, misplaced the cheque or changed names.
After a period of time these organisations and government agencies lodge the money with Federal and State agencies. At the Federal level lost and unclaimed monies are held by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Each of States and Territories have different departments that look after this area. In Victoria it is the State Revenue Office. In New South Wales it is Revenue NSW. In Queensland it is the Public Trustee. In the ACT it is the Public Trustee and Guardian. In South Australia it is the Department of Treasury and Finance. In Tasmania it is the Department of Treasury and Finance. In Western Australia it is the Treasury of WA and in Northern Territory it is the NT Treasury.
How much Lost and Unclaimed Money is held by these offices?
A quick summary show that there is more than:
– $1.1 Billion dollars held by ASIC;
– $100’s of Millions of dollars is held by the various State offices.
Some of these offices have easily searchable registries of lost and unclaimed money. Others like Tasmania are not publicly searchable online. You can still apply for any money you know you have lost or was unclaimed.
However, part of the conundrum of lost money is that most people that have lost money don’t actually know it.
We can help with the search for lost and unclaimed money. We have helped identify lost and unclaimed money for businesses and individuals in Qld, NT, WA, ACT, Vic, NSW and Federally.