Sydney’s sky-high cost of living got you good? A financial boost could come from an unlikely source, with the NSW Government set to return millions of dollars to residents across the state this financial year. The unclaimed funds are the result of refunds, un-presented cheques, bonds and dividends that residents haven’t been able to claim for reasons ranging from lost paperwork (whoops) to address changes and name changes. The average payment waiting to be returned to individuals and businesses across NSW is $370, and with a total of $638 million currently waiting to be claimed, it’s very possible that you could be in for a windfall.
The surplus money held by Revenue NSW is currently sitting with them due to a number of reasons – with royalties, NSW Public Sector superannuation, overpayments from purchases, trust fund accounts and commissions each resulting in money owed. Each financial year, the government sets about reuniting residents with money that's owed to them, but the mission is surprisingly challenging. Over the past ten years, more than $154 million in unclaimed money has been returned to Revenue NSW – with individuals and businesses failing to claim what’s rightfully theirs despite efforts by the government to get money back into the bank accounts of the people who are owed it.
In the 2023-24 financial year, more than $22.3 million found its way into the rightful hands/ bank accounts of individuals across the state – a 59 per cent increase on 2022-23, and the highest on record. Since 1 July 2014, more than $161 million has been returned – but there’s still a whole heap more waiting to be claimed. Here in Sydney, residents of the City and the Inner South are the most likely to have cash to claim – with $46.6 million (an average amount of $541) waiting to be claimed, followed by North Sydney and Hornsby with $29.5 million (an average amount of $389) in unclaimed funds.
To streamline the process of getting hold of unclaimed cash, Revenue NSW has sent 12,407 letters to NSW residents pointing them to the claim-lodging portal. They’ve also made the verification process a whole lot easier, with streamlined ID checks through a Service NSW account, a new system to easily upload documents, and a new feature which tracks application status.
“We want to get this money back to families and households as quickly and easily as we can. The changes we’ve made to the unclaimed money system will help make that process easier,” explained Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos.
Keen to cash in? You can search the register to find out if you’re owed money via the portal in seconds – it’s totally free, and super-easy to search. If you’re in luck, you just need to provide a few supporting documents to prove your identity and Revenue NSW will cash your cheque within 28 days. Learn more over here.
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