Before you start, have these ready
- A current photo ID: driver licence or passport
- Proof of your current address, such as a recent utility bill or bank statement
- Evidence linking you to the money: old statement, policy, share certificate or a past address that matches the record
- Name change evidence if the record is under a different name: marriage certificate or change of name certificate
The standard document set
Many registers use a similar check: one primary photo identity document, one secondary document, and proof of your current residential address.
Primary documents are an Australian passport, driver licence or birth certificate. Secondary documents include a Medicare card, citizenship certificate or a government concession card. Proof of address is a recent utility bill, bank statement or rates notice in your name.
Copies usually need to be certified by an authorised person - a pharmacist, police officer, accountant, justice of the peace or Australia Post outlet. Never send original documents by post.
Linking yourself to the money
As well as proving who you are, you must show the record belongs to you. The strongest evidence is a document with the old account number or the address the record is held against.
Useful items include old bank statements or passbooks, share certificates and holder identification numbers, superannuation member statements, payslips, tenancy agreements and bond receipts.
If you have nothing, say so. Registers can often verify a match from your date of birth and address history alone, particularly for smaller amounts.
When your name or address has changed
Provide the document that connects the two names: a marriage certificate, divorce order, deed poll or change of name certificate issued by births, deaths and marriages.
For addresses, list every address you have lived at going back as far as the record. A statutory declaration setting out your address history is commonly accepted where you have no documents from that time.
Claiming for someone else
For a deceased person you need the death certificate plus probate, letters of administration, or a statutory declaration as next of kin for smaller sums.
For someone living who cannot claim themselves, you need a valid power of attorney or a guardianship or administration order, along with your own identity documents.
For a company, you need evidence of your authority to act - usually an ASIC company extract showing you as a director.
Step by step
- 1
Read the specific register's claim page first. Each one lists its own accepted documents.
- 2
Gather documents that cover three things: who you are now, where you live now, and why the money is yours.
- 3
If your name has changed, include the certificate that connects the old name to the new one.
- 4
Get copies certified only if the register asks for it, by a person authorised in your state to certify documents.
- 5
Keep copies of everything you send and note the date and the claim reference.
Common mistakes
- Sending one document and hoping it covers everything. Identity, address and entitlement are three separate questions.
- Ignoring the name-change link. A claim in your current name for money held under a maiden name needs the certificate.
- Posting originals when certified copies would do.
- Giving identity document numbers to anyone who contacted you first. Only provide them through the official claim process you started yourself.
I found a possible match, what now?
A listing is a record the authority holds, not proof the money is yours. Note the reference shown against it, check the details you recognise, then open the claim page on the official site and read what evidence it asks for before you start. You lodge the claim directly with that authority, never through this site.
What documents you may needI found nothing, what now?
A nil result usually means you searched the wrong register, the wrong spelling of a name, or too few variations of it. Try surname only, earlier surnames and each state you have lived in, then work through the troubleshooting steps before you give up.
Searched and found nothingTip: Get your copies certified once, then use the same certified set for every claim you lodge.
Common questions
Official sources checked
- Researched and reviewed by
- Find Lost Money Australia
- Information last verified
- 1 August 2026
Find Lost Money Australia is an independent information service, not a government agency. Our review checks the responsible agency's current page, search location and claim instructions. Agencies can change their rules, so confirm details on the official site before you act.
Keep looking
Continue your lost-money search
Money goes missing in more than one place. These are the next things worth checking.
- Proving your identityThe documents each register asks for before it will release money to you.
- Bank accounts, shares and dividendsASIC holds bank money inactive for seven years, plus unclaimed dividends and share proceeds.
- Your state or territory registerEach state holds unclaimed refunds, deposits and trust money from businesses in that state.
- Deceased estate searchesHow an executor searches and claims money that belonged to someone who has died.
Searching is free. Every register we link to lets you search at no cost, and you can lodge a claim yourself. Be cautious of any business that asks for an upfront fee simply to search a public register on your behalf. Find Lost Money Australia is an independent information service. We are not a government agency and we do not hold or search unclaimed money databases.