{"id":"unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998","name":"Unclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998","slug":"unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30685,"registerId":"nt-unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Unclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nUNCLAIMED SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS ACT 1998\nAs in force at 1 July 2010\nTable of provisions\n1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1\n2 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1\n3 Application of Act ............................................................................. 2\n4 Statement of unclaimed superannuation benefits ............................ 2\n5 Payment of unclaimed superannuation benefits .............................. 3\n6 Treasurer to refund certain amounts ............................................... 3\n7 Register of unclaimed superannuation benefits ............................... 3\n8 Discharge of liability ......................................................................... 4\n9 Trustee not in breach of trust ........................................................... 4\n10 Conflict with governing instrument of public sector scheme ............ 4\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 1 July 2010\n____________________\nUNCLAIMED SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS ACT 1998\nAn Act to provide for the payment of unclaimed superannuation benefits\nto the Treasurer and for related purposes\n1 Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Unclaimed Superannuation Benefits\nAct 1998.\n2 Definitions\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\nCommonwealth Act means the Superannuation Industry\n(Supervision) Act 1993 of the Commonwealth as amended from\ntime to time or as modified from time to time under section 332 of\nthat Act.\nexempt public sector superannuation scheme means an exempt\npublic sector superannuation scheme as defined in the\nCommonwealth Act.\ndata processing device means an article or material (including a\ndisc) from which information is capable of being reproduced with or\nwithout the aid of any other article or device.\nfund means:\n(a) a fund as defined in Part 22 of the Commonwealth Act; and\n(b) an exempt public sector superannuation scheme.\nhalf-year means a period of 6 months ending on 30 June or\n31 December.\ntrustee means a trustee as defined in the Commonwealth Act.\nunclaimed superannuation benefit means an amount of money\nthat is taken by Part 22 of the Commonwealth Act to be unclaimed\nmoney.\n\nUnclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998 2\n3 Application of Act\nThis Act applies to a fund and the trustee of a fund if:\n(a) the trustee is a corporation within the meaning of the\nCorporations Act 2001 and its registered office within the\nmeaning of that Act is in the Territory;\n(b) in the case of a trustee of a fund who is a natural person, the\nprincipal place where the trustee carries on business as a\ntrustee is in the Territory;\n(c) in the case of an exempt public sector superannuation\nscheme, the principal place where the fund is administered is\nin the Territory; or\n(d) where there are 2 or more trustees of the fund and\nparagraph (a) or (b) applies to one or more but not to all the\ntrustees, the principal place where the fund is administered is\nin the Territory.\n4 Statement of unclaimed superannuation benefits\n(1) The trustee of a fund must give to the Treasurer a statement (in a\nform approved by the Treasurer) of all unclaimed superannuation\nbenefits in the fund as at 30 June 1997, as at 31 December 1997\nand as at the end of each subsequent half-year.\n(2) The trustee must give the Treasurer the statement:\n(a) as at 30 June 1997, on or before 30 April 1998;\n(b) in relation to a half-year ending on 31 December, on or before\nthe following 30 April; or\n(c) in relation to a half-year ending on 30 June, on or before the\nfollowing 31 October,\nor on or before a later date that the Treasurer approves by notice in\nwriting given to the trustee whether before or after 31 October or\n30 April, as the case requires.\n(3) If, after the end of a half-year and before the trustee gives the\nstatement to the Treasurer, the trustee pays any unclaimed\nsuperannuation benefit to a person who is entitled to it, the\nstatement must contain the particulars about the payment as\nrequired by the form approved under subsection (1).\n\nUnclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998 3\n(4) An approval by the Treasurer of a form of statement for the\npurposes of subsection (1) may require or permit the statement to\nbe given on a specified kind of data processing device in\naccordance with specified software requirements.\n(5) A trustee who fails to comply with a provision of this section is guilty\nof an offence if the failure is intentional or results from failure on the\npart of the trustee to take reasonable care to comply with the\nprovision.\nMaximum penalty: 17 penalty units.\n5 Payment of unclaimed superannuation benefits\nThe trustee of a fund when giving the statement under section 4\nmust pay to the Treasurer, for payment into the Central Holding\nAuthority, an amount equal to the aggregate of the unclaimed\nsuperannuation benefits specified in the statement less the amount,\nor the aggregate of the amounts, paid by the trustee and specified\nin the statement in accordance with section 4(3).\n6 Treasurer to refund certain amounts\n(1) If:\n(a) an unclaimed superannuation benefit has been paid to the\nTreasurer under this Act; and\n(b) the Treasurer is satisfied, on application made by a person in\na form approved by the Treasurer, that, if this Act and Part 22\nof the Commonwealth Act had not been enacted, that person\nwould have been paid that unclaimed superannuation benefit\nby the trustee by whom it was paid to the Treasurer,\nthe Treasurer must pay an amount equal to the amount of that\nunclaimed superannuation benefit to that person.\n(2) If the trustee of a fund, after paying an amount to the Treasurer\nunder this Act, satisfies the Treasurer that the amount paid exceeds\nthe amount that the trustee would have paid to the person\nconcerned, the Treasurer must refund to the trustee the amount of\nthe excess.\n(3) The Central Holding Authority is appropriated to the extent\nnecessary for the purposes of this section.\n7 Register of unclaimed superannuation benefits\n(1) The Treasurer must keep a register of unclaimed superannuation\nbenefits paid to the Treasurer under this Act.\n\nUnclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998 4\n(2) The register may be in the form, and kept in the manner, that the\nTreasurer determines but must include, in relation to each\nunclaimed superannuation benefit recorded in the register:\n(a) the name of the fund in which the benefit was held; and\n(b) the name of the person in respect of whom the benefit was\npayable.\n8 Discharge of liability\nA trustee of a fund who pays to the Treasurer an amount required\nby this Act is discharged from further liability as trustee in respect of\nthe amount.\n9 Trustee not in breach of trust\nNothing done by a trustee of a fund in accordance with this Act may\nbe regarded for any purpose as constituting a breach of trust by the\ntrustee.\n10 Conflict with governing instrument of public sector scheme\nIf there is a conflict between a duty imposed on the trustee of an\nexempt public sector superannuation scheme by this Act and a duty\nimposed on the trustee by the governing instrument of the scheme\n(whether the governing instrument is an Act, regulations or any\nother kind of instrument), the trustee must comply with this Act and\nin doing so will be taken to have complied with the governing\ninstrument.\n\nENDNOTES\nUnclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998 5\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nUnclaimed Superannuation Benefits Act 1998 (Act No. 30, 1998)\nAssent date 30 April 1998\nCommenced 30 April 1998\nCorporations Reform (Consequential Amendments NT) Act 2001 (Act No. 17, 2001)\nAssent date 29 June 2001\nCommenced 15 July 2001 (s 2, s 2 Corporations Act 2001 (Cth Act No. 50,\n2001) and Cth Gaz S285, 13 July 2001)\nStatute Law Revision Act 2007 (Act No. 4, 2007)\nAssent date 8 March 2007\nCommenced 8 March 2007\nJustice Legislation Amendment (Penalties) Act 2010 (Act No. 12, 2010)\nAssent date 20 May 2010\nCommenced 1 July 2010 (Gaz G24, 16 June 2010, p 2)\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: s 1.\n4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\ns 3 amd No. 17, 2001, s 21\ns 4 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3\nss 5 – 6 amd No. 4, 2007, s 7","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Amendments listed in the endnotes (2001, 2007, 2010 and formal edits) are technical and administrative: updates to take account of changes in the Corporations Act, adjustments to penalties/timing/format requirements, and clarifications about refunds and appropriation. Those changes do not materially broaden the Act's core purpose, which remains the collection and Territory custody of amounts that the Commonwealth Act treats as unclaimed superannuation benefits, together with a register and refund pathway. The territorial application, trustee protections (discharge and non-breach of trust) and the reliance on Commonwealth Part 22 remain the central scope-defining features (sections 2–10)."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act: 10 substantive sections","About 9 defined terms in section 2 (including cross-references to Commonwealth Act definitions)","Direct cross-reference to Part 22 of the Commonwealth Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 for the definition of unclaimed money","Application conditions in section 3 introduce territorial and trustee-type tests (corporation registered office, natural person principal place, exempt public sector scheme administration, or mixed-trustee situations)","Recurring reporting timetable with different lodgement deadlines depending on half-year period (section 4)","Treasurer discretion to approve form and specify electronic/data processing requirements (section 4(4))","Penalty provision for intentional or careless non-compliance (section 4(5)) with a fixed monetary penalty (17 penalty units)","Refund and appropriation mechanics involving the Central Holding Authority (section 6) and a register requirement (section 7)","Legal effect clauses that discharge trustee liability and override conflicting governing instruments for exempt schemes (sections 8–10)"],"plain_english_summary":"The Act requires trustees of certain superannuation funds with a Northern Territory nexus to identify, report and pay amounts treated as \"unclaimed money\" under the Commonwealth SIS Act to the NT Treasurer, who holds them in the Central Holding Authority and maintains a register.\n\nThe Treasurer decides formats for reporting and refund applications; trustees get legal discharge on payment but bear compliance and cash‑flow costs, while members can apply to reclaim entitlements."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: establishing a mechanism for trustees to transfer unclaimed superannuation benefits to the Treasurer and for those benefits to be reclaimed by entitled persons. The 2001 and 2007 amendments were technical updates (Corporations Act references and general statute law revision), while the 2010 amendment updated penalty provisions. None expanded the substantive scope beyond the original intent of managing unclaimed super in the NT."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute — only 10 operative sections across 4 pages","Minimal defined terms (7 definitions in section 2), mostly referencing external Commonwealth legislation","Simple conditional structure — primarily 'if X then Y' logic without nested exceptions","Heavy reliance on external references (Commonwealth Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993) for core concepts like 'unclaimed superannuation benefit' and 'trustee'","No subordinate legislation or regulations referenced in the operative provisions","Clear temporal triggers (half-yearly reporting: 30 June and 31 December) with straightforward deadlines","Single offence provision (section 4(5)) with basic mens rea requirement ('intentional or failure to take reasonable care')"],"plain_english_summary":"This Northern Territory law deals with **lost superannuation money** — retirement savings that super funds hold but can't find the owners of.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Requires super funds** (and their trustees) operating in the NT to hand over unclaimed super benefits to the Territory's Treasurer twice a year\n- **Protects trustees** — when they pay the money to the Treasurer, they're legally released from any further responsibility for that money and can't be sued for breach of trust\n- **Creates a register** — the Treasurer must keep a list of all unclaimed benefits received, including the fund name and the person the money belongs to\n- **Allows refunds** — if someone later proves the money is theirs, the Treasurer must pay it back to them; if a trustee overpays, they can get the excess back\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Superannuation trustees operating in the Northern Territory (including public sector schemes)\n- People who have lost track of their superannuation — they can claim it back from the Treasurer\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this law, unclaimed super could sit indefinitely with private funds. This system ensures lost retirement savings are held safely by the government, can be claimed by rightful owners, and stops trustees from being penalised for handing the money over."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998","history":"/api/acts/unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998/history","analysis":"/api/acts/unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/unclaimed-superannuation-benefits-act-1998/documents"}}