Unclaimed money

ASIC is responsible for handling all unclaimed moneys from:

authorised deposit taking institutions, under s69 of the Banking Act 1959 (Banking Act)
life insurance companies & benefit fund friendly societies, only for annual returns made under s216 of the Life Insurance Act 1995 (Life Insurance Act)
institutions providing first home saver accounts, under s51A of the First Home Saver Accounts Act 2008 (First Home Saver Accounts Act)
companies with unclaimed money/property, under sections 668A, 668B, 1343, 1343A 1017E, 601AD(2), 601AD(1A), 601NG, 544 and 414 of the Corporations Act 2001(Corporations Act).

Lodging unclaimed money returns - for institutions
Claiming unclaimed money - for institutions
Unclaimed money reports

What do the changes to the Commonwealth unclaimed money laws mean for consumers?

Lodging unclaimed money returns - for institutions

Changes that will impact your 2012 unclaimed money returns (provided in 2013)
In December 2012 changes were made to the laws relating to unclaimed money, including the Banking Act, Life Insurance Act and the First Home Saver Accounts Act. These changes mean that for the 2012 lodgement period (between 1 January 2013 and 31 May 2013) institutions may need to provide two unclaimed money returns to ASIC - their normal 2012 return by 31 March 2013 and a Supplementary return by 31 May 2013.

Supplementary returns for 2013 are to include money that is unclaimed after the shorter period of 3 years.

For more information, see specific institution information in How to lodge returns (including nil returns) below, the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Unclaimed Money and Other Measures) Act 2012 and related regulations.

Deadlines for sending us your standard 2012 returns

	Returns for year ended	Lodge with ASIC by
Authorised deposit taking institutions	31 December	31 March the following year
Insurance companies & benefit fund friendly societies	31 December	31 March the following year
Companies with s668A(4) (Corporations Act) records to be published	31 December	31 January the following year (for publication by 28 February)

Deadlines for sending us your Supplementary return in 2013

	Applicable assessment day	Lodge with ASIC by
Authorised deposit taking institutions	30 May 2013 (default date)*	31 May 2013
Insurance companies & benefit fund friendly societies	30 May 2013 (default date)*	31 May 2013
Companies with s668A(4) (Corporations Act) records to be published	Not applicable	Not applicable

*An authorised deposit taking institution, insurance company and benefit fund friendly society can, by written notice given to ASIC before 30 May 2013, nominate an Applicable assessment day other than the default date of 30 May 2013. The nominated date can be between 31 December 2012 and 29 May 2013 (inclusive). Notification of an Applicable assessment date, other than the default date, can be provided to ASIC by email at unclaimed.money@asic.gov.au.

How to lodge returns (including nil returns)

Claiming unclaimed money – for institutions

Although unclaimed money is provided to ASIC, some institutions remain the first point of contact for consumers wanting to claim those funds. Once satisfied that the consumer is entitled to the unclaimed money, the institution will make a claim to ASIC on behalf of the entitled person for the return of those funds.

If you are an institution and want to make a claim, go to:

Unclaimed money reports

In accordance with section 8(2)(g) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), ASIC publishes full reports of unclaimed money records that we routinely provide in response to FOI requests.

Please note these are very large files and will be updated monthly.

If you are searching for unclaimed money to claim yourself, see 'Finding unclaimed money - for consumers' below.

Finding unclaimed money - for consumers

To find unclaimed money, go to our consumer website, MoneySmart, to do an online search.

MoneySmart also provides a link to searching lost superannuation on the ATO website.

ASIC Website: Printed 05/21/2013

Within:
For: