If your company head office is registered in South Australia or you do business in South Australia
In accordance with the Unclaimed Moneys Act 1891 an alphabetical register must be maintained by your company for all amounts unclaimed over ten dollars. After six years, if your company has not paid the unclaimed money to its rightful owner then the register of unclaimed money must be published in the South Australian Government Gazette in the January of the seventh year.
All unclaimed money not paid by the company to its rightful owner within two years after the first publication of a notice in the Government Gazette is paid by the company to the Treasurer of South Australia.
Deducting the cost of advertising in the Government Gazette
The company may deduct out of all unclaimed moneys paid by the company to the Treasurer, or to any claimant, the expense relating to the publication of the notices in the Government Gazette.
The Unclaimed Moneys Act 1891 has a threshold of ten dollars. If the advertising fee exceeds the value of the unclaimed moneys then it should not be advertised.
| Example | |
|---|---|
| Amount unclaimed first year of advertising | $15.00 |
| Advertising fee | $11.50 |
| Amount remaining - do not advertise the second year. | $4.50 |
Department of the Treasury and Finance do not wish to receive credits for unclaimed moneys due to the advertising fee being greater than that amount unclaimed.
Paying unclaimed moneys to the Treasurer
The company submits the unclaimed moneys to the Treasurer in January of the 9th year and, using the template register provided with the following information:
- the name of the money’s rightful owner
- their last known address to the company
- date of birth (if known)
- the amount owed to the rightful owner (pre advertising costs)
- the amount owed to the rightful owner (post advertising costs)
- the reason that the money is being held (eg dividends, unclaimed salaries etc).
More information provided means there is a better chance of repaying the rightful owner.
Amounts not advertised
DTF has also accepted unclaimed moneys not advertised in the Government Gazette. These are generally where the company is winding up and wants to pay over the unclaimed money before the 9 year time frame. This is dealt with on a case-by-case basis and is at the discretion of Treasury.
- Statutory declaration form - trust account (Word 28KB)
- Statutory declaration form – legal (Word 30KB)
If you are not a company and have a head office registered in South Australia or your business in South Australia involves the operation of a Trust Account
An individual for the purpose of the Unclaimed Moneys Act is any person not being a company (Section 7A).
Often an individual includes organisations that are not companies and are required to keep trust accounts such as real estate agents and conveyancers.
Under the Act, moneys held by an individual must be paid to the Treasurer after being held for a period of one year or more. These moneys do not need to be advertised in the Government Gazette.
A signed statutory declaration must accompany the payment of unclaimed moneys.
The statutory declaration must also include:
- the name of the money’s rightful owner
- their last known address to the company
- date of birth (if known)
- the amount owed to the rightful owner.
Making a payment
Please ensure you forward a covering letter that includes the background of the unclaimed moneys, a statutory declaration, the register of unclaimed moneys and a cheque to the value of amount unclaimed less any advertising fees payable to Department of Treasury and Finance.