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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 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. The Department of Treasury has a duty to ensure that money is only paid to the lawful owner or their authorised representative.

What you’ll need

Before you make an online claim, you will need some identification and your bank details handy, together with a bit of paperwork. The online process will step you through what documents are required in order to make a successful claim. 

The following User Guide can also be downloaded to assist you with the new online claim process.

• User Guide (PDF)

Forms

Making an online claim is strongly encouraged as it will result in a faster processing time. If you wish to submit a claim via the previous paper-based method, a Statutory Declaration form is required.
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

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

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 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.

To report a potential security vulnerability, email vulnerabilitydisclosure@finance.wa.gov.au

Please provide as much information as possible, such as:

• an explanation of the potential security vulnerability
• a list of all products or services that may be affected
• steps to reproduce the vulnerability
• proof-of-concept code (where applicable)
• your contact information.

What happens next

We will:

• respond to your report within 5 business days
• keep you informed of our progress
• agree on a date for public disclosure
• credit you for discovering the vulnerability, unless you wish to remain anonymous.

We will not:

• offer compensation for you report
• share your details with any other organisation, without your permission.

We ask that you maintain confidentiality of the information that you have provided to us and not publicly disclose details of potential security vulnerabilities without our written consent.
 

Before contacting the Unclaimed Money Administrator 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.