Australians have billions of dollars in lost and unclaimed money. One source that you might not know about is inactive bank accounts.
If a bank account has no deposits or withdrawals for seven years or more, it can be flagged as unclaimed and sent to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Thankfully, the money isn't lost forever. In fact, you can make a claim and even receive interest on unclaimed money owed to you.
Here's what to know about unclaimed money — and how you can find out if you have any lost money yourself.
How much unclaimed money is out there?
ASIC handles about $2.3 billion of lost money from bank accounts, shares investments and life insurance policies.
"The amounts vary in size from a few dollars to over a million dollars," an ASIC spokesperson says.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) meanwhile says there is $17.8 billion of lost superannuation from more than 7.1 million accounts. That is based on data from June 30, 2024.
This amount includes unclaimed superannuation that has been transferred to the ATO, as well as inactive and uncontactable accounts held by super funds.
Australians have another $241 million in unclaimed Medicare benefits, with young people aged 18-24 missing out the most.
On top of that, there's an unknown amount of unclaimed money sitting with state and territory bodies.
How does money become unclaimed?
In most cases, money becomes unclaimed because an account is inactive or contact details are incorrect.
For example, someone might move house and forget to update their contact details with a business or forget about a bank or investment account.
Money can also end up unclaimed if it's not identified after someone dies.
From December 31, 2015, ASIC can be sent unclaimed money after seven years of inactivity. Prior to that, the required period was only three years.
With superannuation, the rules are slightly different. Super funds can treat super as "lost" if:
- You are uncontactable by your fund (for example, you have moved and not updated your details) and your fund hasn't received a contribution or rollover for 12 months; or
- Your super account is inactive, meaning it hasn't received a contribution or rollover in five years.
Lost super can be held by super funds or sent to the ATO, where it is held in a government-administered holding account.
When it comes to unpaid Medicare claims, money can be held when banking details haven't been provided or are incorrect.
How to check if you have unclaimed money from ASIC
Thankfully, it's not too difficult to check if you're owed unclaimed money.
For lost bank accounts, shares and life insurance, you can use ASIC Moneysmart's unclaimed money tool.
"If someone finds they have unclaimed money using ASIC's Moneysmart online search, they will need to contact the relevant bank or institution where the money is held if the money is listed as 'banking' or 'life insurance' and make a claim enquiry," an ASIC spokesperson says.
"They will carefully assess a claim and notify ASIC to release funds, if approved."
How to check if you have lost super or unclaimed Medicare benefits
You can check for lost super by logging into the ATO's online service portal through myGov. Once you've logged in:
- From the "super" menu, select "fund details". This can help you see if you have any forgotten accounts or super held by the ATO.
- To transfer unclaimed or forgotten super, select "manage" then "transfer super". Follow the prompts to transfer the super to another eligible account.
- If the amount is less than $200 or you are over 65, you can select "Withdraw ATO-held super" to have the money paid directly to you.
To ensure that you are being paid Medicare benefits correctly, you can check your bank details by logging into Medicare's service in myGov.
Here's how you do that:
- Once you logged into your Medicare account, select "My details" from the menu then "View and edit my details".
- Find the bank details section and select "edit";
- Once you've updated your details, select "Save bank details".
Once your details are updated, Medicare will pay any unpaid benefits within three days.
Your state or territory government could also be holding unclaimed money
Finally, you can check the relevant body in your state and territory to see if they might be holding any unclaimed money owed to you.
How you can avoid your money becoming 'unclaimed'
To avoid your bank accounts from being flagged as unclaimed money, you simply need to make an occasional transaction. To be on the safe side, you could do one every few years.
The amount doesn't matter. Even a five-cent transfer or deposit will stop your account from ending up with ASIC.
Otherwise, it's important to check that your details are up to date with financial institutions and government bodies that may come into contact with your money.
"The most important thing to do is make sure you keep your contact details, including postal address, phone and email up to date," ASIC's spokesperson says.
"If you move house or change any other contact details, make sure you tell your bank or other organisations you do business with as soon as possible."
