Lost cash: NSW government has $638 million in unclaimed cash sitting in its coffers

A staggering amount of unclaimed money is sitting in NSW government coffers with some of Sydney’s most well-known entertainers and sports people among those entitled to a share.

The Minns government is sitting on a huge amount of unclaimed money.

A staggering $638 million of unclaimed money is sitting in NSW government coffers with some of Sydney’s most well-known entertainers and sports people among those entitled to a share.

The pool of funds is made up of uncashed cheques, superannuation of people who cannot be tracked down, refunds, bill overpayments and dividends, with more money going in than out every year.

Among the names appearing on the list of people who might be entitled to claim an amount include a Peter Garrett from Randwick who has $851.47 sitting in the Revenue NSW coffers from energy company AGL.

Randwick is located in the federal electorate of Kingsford Smith, which former Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett represented as a Labor MP in 2004, and again in 2007.

Singer Guy Sebastian is also on the list, with $218.85 from Insurance Australia Ltd awaiting to be claimed.

Gai Waterhouse could be waving hello to unclaimed funds. Picture: Getty Images

Peter Garrett could come into some unclaimed money. Picture: Getty Images

Trainer Gai Waterhouse of Kensington has $265.41 from BT Fin Group Ltd awaiting collection, while Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is entitled to $234.85.

The Sunday Telegraph also found names of high-profile television journalists in the list.

Cricketer Mitchell Starc might find he is owed more than $2200 from various organisations.

As for the rest of the population, a breakdown of amounts owed across the State reveals people who lived or are living in Sydney city or inner south are owed a share of almost $47,000, while those in North Sydney and Hornsby are entitled to more than $29,000.

Another $20,400 is available to claim for those who had an address in the inner south west, while there is more than $21,000 owing to eastern suburbs residents.

Inner west residents are entitled to a share of $15,200.

Given only a small proportion of the extraordinary pool of funds awaiting collection is ever claimed – and the fact the NSW government is legally not allowed to access it – it has overhauled the claim system to make it easier for people to access their entitlement.

Last financial year, just over $22.3 million was returned to individuals – an almost 60 per cent increase on the previous year, but still a fraction of the total amount.

At the same time, more than $63.1 million went into the pool.

Revenue NSW has also worked to proactively identified individuals who may have unclaimed money, sending 12,407 letters to alert those owed cash.

As part of streamlining the system, a new portal has been included to enable enterprises to provide better quality data to Revenue NSW – a move that is designed to help claimants find their money.

Finance Minister Courtney Houssos Picture: Richard Dobson

Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said the government had returned a record amount to families and households this financial year, with the changes to the system expected to further bolster the number of successful claims.

“We want to get this money back to families and households as quickly and easily as we can,” she said.

“By making sure that businesses that send information to the unclaimed money fund include basic information, we can get started matching people with their unclaimed money even sooner.”

State Revenue Chief Commissioner Scott Johnston said the new “enterprise portal” will require businesses and corporations to provide the information Revenue NSW needs to reunite residents in NSW, Australia and overseas with their unclaimed money.

“With Revenue NSW consistently seeing more money lodged than it’s able to return, the portal will help the agency continue to give more and more unclaimed money back to those it’s owed to,” he said.

Originally published as Lost cash: NSW government has $638 million in unclaimed cash sitting in its coffers