Unclaimed money

Unclaimed money in Western Australia is governed by the Unclaimed Money Act 1990. 

Under the Act, monies that have been held by an organisation for 6 years without being successfully returned to the rightful owner are deemed to be unclaimed.

Western Australian organisations are required to lodge their unclaimed monies with the Department of Treasury.

To help reunite unclaimed money with its lawful owner, the Department of Treasury maintains and publishes a searchable register. The register is updated annually, with records held indefinitely until the funds are successfully claimed.

Examples of unclaimed money on the register includes:

• rental bond refunds
• dividend payments
• vehicle licence refunds
• refunds from education providers
• overpayments of utilities bills.

The Department of Treasury register does not include the following unclaimed monies, which you can search for separately using the search other jurisdictions link:

• superannuation
• life insurance
• stale bank account balances
• money from organisations based in other states and territories.

Although the Act specifies that monies equal to or greater than $100 can be deemed as unclaimed, the Department of Treasury accepts all values less than $100 as a voluntary transfer of money.

Copies of the Unclaimed Money Act 1990 can be obtained from the legislation website.

The online search details which organisation currently holds your money and where you should direct your claim. The following directions relate to claiming money held by the Department of Treasury only.

What you’ll need

There’s a bit of paperwork you’ll have to do here, but the Department of Treasury has a duty to ensure that money is only paid to the lawful owner or their authorised representative. So, for verification purposes, you must provide ALL the following:

1. Statutory Declaration

The original declaration must be signed by the claimant(s) in the presence of a witness and, together with a copy of some form of claimant identification and supporting papers, forwarded to this office for assessment. One Statutory Declaration may be completed where the name is the same and has multiple amounts listed. Unclaimed money held in joint names require separate Statutory Declarations for each name requesting a percentage share of proceeds of unclaimed money (e.g. 50% for half shares).

2. Personal ID

A certified copy of current personal identification (e.g. Driver’s Licence, Passport, Signed Australian Government Department of Human Services Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card).

3. Document that confirms your entitlement 

Please refer to the online search for details of the payee’s address and payer/source of the money claimed. You must provide certified copies of documents that can be matched to the Department of Treasury records (i.e. documents that relate to the address or payer/source in the register).

Any representative or agent must also provide written confirmation of their appointment e.g. Power of Attorney, Probate, Agent Agreement. This authority is required in addition to the first three points above.

Additional documentation is required for claims regarding organisations, change of name and Deceased Estates.

• Organisation

Statutory Declaration completed by authorised person for the organisation. A certified copy of a document that confirms association with the organisation (e.g. organisation registered documentation listing names of authorised persons). If applicable, certified copy of documentation that confirms change of organisation name/organisation ownership documents.

• Change of name

Certified copy of Registered Marriage Certificate or Registered Change of Name Certificate issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. If applicable, certified copy of court document(s).

• Deceased Estate

Statutory Declaration completed by authorised person for the Estate. A certified copy of the Death Certificate for the Estate issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and a certified copy of either the Grant of Probate or Will or Letters of Administration for the Estate.

Forms

Please use one of the following downloads to print a Statutory Declaration and claim instructions. Left click on the links below to open the files or use the right click and “Save Target As” to save the file to your computer:

• Claim Form (PDF version)
• Claim Form (Word version)

Useful link

• List of approved witness

Investigators or agents have been known to approach people listed with unclaimed money and offer a fee-based recovery service.

These investigators and agents are not registered, nor are they regulated, by the Department of Treasury.

The Department of Treasury has no connection with any investigator or agent and accepts no responsibility for their actions.

The affairs of deceased estates are generally administered by the 'Executor'.

Queries regarding deceased estates should be directed to the Executor.

The Executor may be a person so specified in the deceased’s Will or approved by a Court through the issue of a 'Grant of Probate'.

If you do not know the identity of an Executor, you should contact the Public Trustee or Probate Office of the State in which the deceased passed away.

The Department of Treasury is not directly involved in the administration of deceased estates.

Useful links

• Public Trustee website
• Probate Court website

If you have lived in another state, you may be owed money from other jurisdictions. You may also have money owed by commonwealth organisations and agencies.

A comprehensive list of contacts can be found on the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) website.

Warning - you should not enter any of your personal details into any other sites you may be directed to via Google search results for unclaimed money.

Before contacting the of Administrator Unclaimed Money at the Department of Treasury, please ensure that you have read the information on this page.

Due to office security requirements, the Unclaimed Money Administrator is unable to meet personally with the public.