More than $577 million is currently sitting unclaimed by Revenue NSW, with about $234 million of that designated as belonging to residents who have yet to claim it.
The NSW Government returned more than $21.8 million in unclaimed funds during the last financial year, setting a record.
Unclaimed funds are comprised of payments, refunds, unpresented cheques, dividends and other money that organisations cannot transfer to its rightful owners — sometimes due to something as simple as changed addresses or bank accounts.
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The government is currently holding more than $234 million for NSW residents with a further $343 million either designated to people who live outside NSW or who are unknown.
Approximately $85.4 million is currently waiting for Sydney residents to whom it belongs to claim their share.
Some $41.2 million is set aside for Sydney City and Inner South residents, $25.6 million set aside for North Sydney and Hornsby residents and $18.6 million set aside for Inner South West residents.
Regionally, there is $7.4 million waiting for Newcastle and Lake Macquarie residents to claim it, and $5.8 million waiting for Illawarra residents.
The average amount of unclaimed money owed on the register is $391, and more than $154 million has been claimed back from the government in the past decade.
“Despite doing our best to give unclaimed money back to the people it’s owed to, we’re still seeing more money referred to us than people are claiming,” Chief Commissioner of State Revenue Scott Johnston said.
“We want to make sure everyone knows about the unclaimed money register, so they can jump online, find out if any money is owed to them and undertake the process to get it back.
“That way we can ensure more money is being returned to those it belongs to, rather than sitting with us for extended periods of time after enterprises and organisations pass it on.”
You can find more information about the unclaimed funds, and search the register, on Revenue NSW’s website.