How to find out if you’re owed share of Government’s $190 million pot of unclaimed money

Thousands of West Australians struggling to make ends meet don’t know they’re owed money that’s sitting in a government pot that has swelled to $190 million.

The West Australian can reveal that the amount held in Treasury’s register of unclaimed money has grown 26 per cent since 2023, spurring a renewed push to find the rightful owners.

It includes more than 1.3 million records, for amounts as low as a few dollars or much, much larger.

A deceased estate worth about $916,000 sat unclaimed for almost 30 years.

One person enjoyed a $314,000 pay day last financial year, as one of more than 3,500 successful claims.

A total of $2.7 million was paid out in 2024-25, but a lot more was paid into the account.

The register also includes rental bond refunds, dividend payments, vehicle licence or education provider refunds and overpayments of utility bills, but it doesn’t include refunds owed as a result of Synergy’s overpayment scandal.

It was revealed in October that almost 174,000 customers had been overcharged to the tune of about $40 million, triggering a compliance enforcement notice and a public apology from the State-owned energy retailer.

On Monday, a Synergy spokesperson said it has returned $5.5 million in overpayments so far, to 14,033 impacted customers, and has paid out $591,000 in goodwill payments.

Treasury’s register includes cheques that can be lost as a result of a change of name or address.

The money is deemed unclaimed after six years of no contact with the account owner.

But it can’t be spent by the Government.

The funds are held indefinitely until they are claimed, and there’s no fee to claim it.

“The Western Australian Government strongly encourages anyone who believes they may have unclaimed money to check the register on the Department of Treasury and Finance website,” a Government spokeswoman said.

To see if you are owed any cash, click here or use the ServiceWA app.

Only a name and suburb is needed to search the register, though proof of identity and proof of association will be needed to claim the cash.

At first glance it appears the amount owed in WA is much more than the amount owed per capita in New South Wales, where about $300 million of unclaimed cash is held by Revenue NSW.

But WA’s figures include money registered to addresses in other states.

It could be worth checking out the Revenue NSW website too, with an extra $394 million owed to addresses interstate.