Unclaimed Goods (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Final Stages

Returned from the House of Assembly agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the House of Assembly desires the concurrence of the Legislative Council:

No. 1. Clause 5, page 5, line 9 [clause 5(4), inserted paragraph (c)(ii)]—Delete 'made reasonable attempts' and substitute 'taken reasonable steps'

No. 2. Page 12, after line 25, insert:

8—Insertion of sections 8A, 8B and 8C

After section 8 insert:

8A—Treasurer may pay money to lawful claimant

(1) If the Treasurer is satisfied, on application made in a manner and form approved by the Treasurer, that a person—

(a) had, prior to the sale, an interest in goods sold under this Act; or

(b) has, after the sale, an interest in the proceeds of the sale of goods under this Act,

the Treasurer may pay to that person the whole or any part of the balance paid to the Treasurer in respect of the sale of those goods under section 8(1)(b).

(2) An application under subsection (1) may not be made—

(a) for an amount that is less than the prescribed amount; or

(b) more than 25 years after the day on which the money was received by the Treasurer.

(3) No interest is payable in respect of a payment made under subsection (1).

(4) A payment under subsection (1) is to be made from the Consolidated Account, which is appropriated to the necessary extent.

(5) If a payment is made to a person under this section, the Crown has no further liability in respect of the money that constituted the payment.

(6) Subsection (5) does not prevent another person claiming to be the owner of the money from taking action for recovery of the money from the person to whom the payment was made.

8B—Record keeping

(1) A recipient who, after the commencement of this section, disposes of unclaimed goods under section 6A or pursuant to an order under section 6D must make a record of the disposal that contains the following information:

(a) a description of the goods;

(b) the date on which the goods were disposed of;

(c) the manner in which the goods were disposed of;

(d) if the goods were sold—

(i) the name and address of the purchaser of the goods; and

(ii) the amount the purchaser paid for the goods; and

(iii) the amount retained by the recipient consequent on the operation of section 8.

(2) A recipient who hands over goods to an owner of the goods in accordance with section 7(1) (in a case where the owner was not the provider of the goods) must make a record of the name and address of the owner.

(3) A recipient must keep a record made under this section for a period of 6 years from the date on which the goods were disposed of.

8C—Protection from liability

No civil or criminal liability attaches to a recipient for any action taken in good faith in accordance with this Act.