Financial Management Act 1996

For this section, money held in a trust banking account is unclaimed trust money if—

not less than 6 years has elapsed since the date the money became payable; and

during that period, no-one entitled to the money has requested that the money be paid to them according to their direction.

If on 1 January in any year a trust banking account contains unclaimed trust money, the director‑general responsible for maintaining the account must, on or before 31 January in the year, give to the Treasurer a statement of all unclaimed trust money held in the account.

The statement must set out—

the name, and last-known address, of each person entitled to unclaimed trust money held in the account; and

the amount of the trust money to which each of those people is entitled; and

the authorised deposit-taking institution, and the branch of the institution, with which the trust money is held.

The statement is a notifiable instrument.

The director-general must give additional public notice of the statement.

Public notice means notice on an ACT government website or in a daily newspaper circulating in the ACT (see Legislation Act, dict, pt 1). The requirement in s (5) is in addition to the requirement for notification on the legislation register as a notifiable instrument.

The total amount shown in the statement must be paid into the territory banking account when the statement is given to the Treasurer and, on being paid into that account, becomes public money of the Territory.

A person who claims to be entitled to any money paid into the territory banking account in accordance with subsection (6) may apply to the Treasurer for a payment of an amount equal to the money to which the person is entitled.

The Treasurer must consider each application and either refuse it or approve it completely or partly.

The Treasurer must give the applicant written notice of the Treasurer’s decision.

A payment approved by the Treasurer under subsection (8) may be made whether or not an appropriation is available for the purpose.