New South Wales is holding onto almost $300 million in unclaimed money for residents and the state wants to give it back to its rightful owners.
Sydney City and its eastern suburbs have the highest unclaimed amount with more than $91m, followed by Western Sydney with $76m.
Outside Sydney, the Central Coast-Hunter regions have the highest unclaimed amount with $22m, the government says. (See table below for full breakdown of the regions).
More than 800,000 items of unclaimed money (ranging from a few dollars to millions) registered to a state address is now sitting in Revenue NSW coffers, worth $298m.
The government says it is holding another $394m for people with addresses outside the state.
Government Procurement Minister Courtney Houssos says that they want to return the money to their rightful owners.
“Last financial year, Revenue NSW returned more than $21m to its rightful owners,” she says.
“While it regularly contacts potential owners, incomplete data means people are sometimes missed.
“That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to take a few minutes to check online – you might be surprised with what you find.”
REVENUE NSW PROCESS
Unclaimed money are funds that someone is legally entitled to but a business hasn’t been able to find them, the government explains.
Money can become unclaimed when people forget to update their name or contact details with businesses, lose paperwork or estates are unaware of funds owed by the deceased.
A register is managed by Revenue NSW and hold onto funds from overpayments, uncashed cheques, dividends, refunds and other amounts.
Last year, the state government reformed its systems to simplify the claim process including integrating with Service NSW for better identification: Click here if you want to visit the Service NSW website.
The government also reduced the time that businesses can hold onto money from six years to two to ensure it is handed to government and returned to its owners sooner.
“With these new reforms, we’re making it faster and easier for people to get what they’re owed,” Houssos says.
To find out if you are owed anything, visit www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/unclaimed-money.
To make a claim, fill in a form and provide your ID and your connection to the amount.
Claims are typically processed within a month, the government says.
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