Unclaimed money

The unclaimed moneys in relation to a company scheme is administered by the Territory Revenue Office (TRO).

Your superannuation does not become unclaimed until it is due to be paid. It is not subject to any cashing restrictions when a member reaches 65 years old or dies.

If you are searching for unclaimed or lost superannuation benefits that do not meet the above criteria for transfer to the Treasurer, view other contacts.

Unclaimed superannuation from Northern Territory Government funds

The Act provides for NT-based fund managers to pay certain unclaimed superannuation moneys to the Treasurer of the NT. The Treasurer is then responsible for:

• record keeping of the information
• paying the beneficiaries of those moneys.

The Treasurer has delegated this function to DTF.

TRO holds unclaimed money for former NT Government employees who were members of the NTGPASS or NTSSS schemes, aged 65 years or over.

The trustee of a superannuation fund is required under the Act to transfer unclaimed benefits to DTF. An unclaimed benefit is a superannuation amount payable by the fund if certain conditions are met, including:

• where a member has reached the eligibility age and:
  • under the governing rules, is eligible for a benefit (other than a pension) from the fund
  • has not applied to the fund’s trustee to have the benefit paid
  • the benefit is unable to be paid because, after all reasonable efforts, the member is unable to be located
• a beneficiary where the member of a fund has died and:
  • under the governing rules, is eligible for a benefit (other than a pension) from the fund
  • had not applied to the fund’s trustee to have the benefit paid or has died after making such an application
  • the benefit is unable to be paid in respect of the member because after all reasonable efforts, the beneficiary is unable to be located.

The only trustee that had previously transferred unclaimed benefits to DTF is the NT Superannuation Office. As a result, the only unclaimed superannuation benefits held by DTF are those owed to employees who have worked for the NT public sector.

As the NT Superannuation Office closed their superannuation schemes to new members from 10 August 1999, anyone intending to follow up unclaimed entitlements must have been a contributing member of a NT-administered superannuation scheme prior to 10 August 1999. The applicable schemes are the Northern Territory Government and Public Authorities Superannuation Scheme (NTGPASS) and the Northern Territory Supplementary Superannuation Scheme (NTSSS).

Government employees who commenced after August 1999 would have had their superannuation contributions paid to the default fund or other fund of their choice. In these cases, any requests for missing superannuation should be referred to the fund concerned.

The Unclaimed superannuation from NT Government funds scheme is administered by TRO.

For more information on unclaimed superannuation contact TRO.

Territory Revenue Office
GPO Box 1974
Darwin NT 0801
Phone: 1300 305 353
ntrevenue@nt.gov.au

Other organisations that administer unclaimed moneys include:

• Northern Territory Public Guardian and Trustee – administers some unclaimed money relating to beneficiaries of estates
• Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) – administers various types of unclaimed money. To search its register, go to ASIC website's unclaimed money page. The categories of unclaimed money that can be located at this site include:
  • old deposit accounts with banks, credit unions and building societies
  • life insurance policies that have matured
  • shares or other money from companies
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO) – administers other unclaimed superannuation moneys. Visit ATO website's unclaimed superannuation money and lost member accounts page and click on superannuation in the dropdown menu then click on ‘Find your lost super’. You will require a tax file number and date of birth to search this information.