What are at least 2 methods in which trust monies can be provided deposited into the trust account?

If you suffer financial loss due to the dishonest handling of trust money or property by a solicitor you may be able to make a claim for compensation through the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund.

You must use your trust account to handle money on behalf of another person.

Whenever you use your trust account, you will need to follow certain rules. These rules will help you to clearly manage and account for trust money.

Trust account receipts

Anyone who keeps a trust account must have:

a register of trust account receipt forms, containing a record of the receipt number of each form, updated within 2 business days of a receipt being used for the operation of a trust account
all receipts in duplicate (such as carbon paper duplicates) must be headed “Office Copy” or “Duplicate Copy”.

On each trust account receipt, you must include:

a title that says ‘Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 – Trust Account Receipt’
a unique receipt number (with all receipts in consecutive order)
the name of the trust account holder (principal licensee)
the agent’s licence number
the date the trust money was received and the date the receipt is completed
the name of the person completing the receipt form and if the receipt form is from a receipt book, or is a hard copy of a computer entry, the person’s signature
the name of the person for whom the receipt is completed
the name of, or other means of identifying, the person on whose behalf the trust money is received
a brief description of the matter for which the trust money is received
the amount of trust money received, expressed in figures
how the trust money was received (such as cash, cheque, direct deposit or electronic funds transfer)
if the trust money received is rent; the address of the rented premises and the day up to which the rent is paid
if the trust money received is payment from a prospective buyer for an option to purchase a used motor vehicle for sale on consignment, the vehicle’s:
- make
- body model
- colour
- engine number or, if the vehicle is a caravan, the chassis number
- identification number
- registration number
- built date.

Receiving payment

Each time you receive a payment of trust money electronically or in person, you must:

make sure it is banked into your trust account before the end of the first business day
complete a trust account receipt
keep the duplicate copy of the receipt for your records.

Make sure the information is clear and legible on the duplicate copy.

When you fill out a receipt, you will need to:

include your name
identify the payee—this might be the seller or a service business
briefly describe the reason why you received the money
note how much money you received in numerals
state how you received the money (such as cash, cheque, credit card or electronic transfer).

You can fill out a trust account receipt manually or electronically. You will need to sign any hard copy of a receipt (including a printout), but only if a hard copy exists.

You can identify a seller with a unique code instead of their name. This means you won’t have to give their name to the payer.

If the person paying the money is different from the person on the contract of sale, you must:

make the receipt out to the person paying the money
include a note that the payment was made on behalf of the names on the contract of sale.

Withdrawals

When you may withdraw funds

You can withdraw funds from a trust account in order to:

pay authorised expenses to a third party
pay the seller their agreed share of the sale price or rent monies
claim your fees, charges and commissions, as outlined in the original Appointment.

The client of the agent for the transaction (or their representatives) must authorise this in writing.

For a payment as a deposit or final purchase price, you must:

only withdraw it when the transaction is finalised (settled or terminated)
pay the seller their share of the proceeds first or simultaneously with any other parties
only withdraw your own fees or commissions after making all other payments.

For a payment for a specific purpose (such as marketing), you must:

store it in your trust account until the appropriate time when you are authorised to use it
only withdraw it to use at that time and for that purpose.

Contact the Public Trustee if you can’t find the rightful recipient of money in your trust account. They will advise you where to send it.

For more information about disputes with trust money and emergency transaction expenses, see our trust account guide.

How to distribute funds

You must distribute all trust money directly from the trust account. It is illegal to transfer money to recipients via a general account.

If your bank does not allow this, you can:

negotiate with your bank to allow EFT functions
consider changing banks
pay by cheque from the trust account.

When paying out trust money by cheque, you must record the:

date the cheque was drawn
payee’s name
person on whose behalf the cheque is drawn
reason the cheque is being drawn
amount of the payment.

When paying out trust money by EFT, you must obtain and keep a transaction report from your bank and record the:

details of the payment
amount of the payment
name and number of the account to which the money was paid.

When paying out trust money using a bill payment platform, if the account number to which the money is being paid is not available, you must record the:

name of the person to whom the money is paid
name of the bill payment platform
unique transaction reference for the payment.

You must provide a written account to your clients for all money received within 42 days of the transaction being finalised. If a written account is requested in writing, you must provide this within 14 days of receiving the request.

Your records

You must keep your trust account records for 5 years.

Your trust account records must include:

a deposit book of trust account deposit forms in duplicate
a cash book
a journal of consecutively numbered folios
a ledger.

You must also keep:

full and accurate accounts of all money you pay or receive for a transaction
all books, accounts and records in a way that is easy to audit.

Computerised accounting systems

If you use a computerised accounting system to manage your trust account records, you must ensure it:

does not allow the deletion of a trust ledger account
records any changes to transaction records
produces records in chronological order.

You must make sure the system is capable of recording changes to the:

name and address of the person for whom trust money is held
amount of trust money held for a person
financial institution account number of a trust account.

The computerised system must also:

have enough backup capability to record the required information
be backed up at least once a month and kept at a separate premises.

Trust book reconciliation

At the end of each month you must reconcile you trust account book with your trust ledgers and a bank statement. This must be completed within 5 days after the end of the month.

For more information on how to reconcile trust account records, cash books and ledgers, see our trust account guide.

Last updated: 20 January 2022

Licensees under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (the Act) must hold clients’ funds in a trust account.

Those funds cannot be used for any purpose other than for that client and must be disbursed as the client directs.

‘General’ trust accounts should not be confused with ‘Separate’ trust accounts opened on behalf of vendor/purchaser or strata plans or established by the owners corporation of a strata scheme as required under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

Licensees in charge to authorise trust account withdrawals

Only a licensee in charge (LIC) of a business may authorise trust account withdrawals from a trust account.

This means that LICs are responsible for reviewing and approving all transactions for the trust account before they occur, including electronic fund transfers and payment of trust money by cheque.

There can also only be one LIC who is able to authorise withdrawals for a trust account.

An LIC will be unable to delegate their authority to another person.

LICs should be aware that if they allow another person to withdraw funds from the trust account on their behalf, they may still be held liable for any breach or defalcation.

See the licensee in charge page to learn more

Trust accounts must be kept at an authorised deposit-taking institution in NSW.

The Secretary has approved the following deposit-taking institutions:

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ)
BCU a Division of Police & Nurses Limited
Bank of Queensland
Bank of Sydney Ltd
BankWest
Bendigo Bank Limited
Berrima District Credit Union Ltd
Coastline Credit Union Ltd
Commonwealth Bank
Delphi Bank
HSBC Bank Australia Limited
Hume Bank Limited
Illawarra Credit Union
IMB Ltd
Macquarie Bank Limited
Maitland Mutual Limited Trading as The Mutual Bank
National Australia Bank Limited
Newcastle Permanent Building Society Ltd
Regional Australia Bank Ltd
St. George Bank Limited
Southern Cross Credit Union Ltd
The Summerland Credit Union Ltd
Suncorp-Metway Ltd
Unity Bank Limited
WAW Credit Union Co-operative Ltd
Westpac Banking Corporation.

Requirements when opening a trust account

When opening a trust account, these requirements apply:

licensees need to notify the authorised deposit-taking institution in writing that the account is a ‘trust account’ required by the Act
if the trust account is held by a corporation, the account must be in the name of the corporation
if not, the trust account must be in the name of the licensee or the firm
the name of the licensee, firm or corporation needs to appear as a prefix of the account name, followed by any other necessary identifier of the trust account
the words 'Trust Account' must also be included in the name of the trust account and all cheques drawn on the trust account.

Unique identifying numbers for general trust accounts

Under the Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2014, a licensee who opens a trust account must provide the authorised deposit-taking institution (bank) with a unique identifying number given by NSW Fair Trading.

Each trust account must have a unique identifying number. If a business maintains multiple trust accounts, each account will need to be registered separately. If the trust account is held by a corporation, the trust account must be registered using the corporation's licence number.

Licensees can use NSW OneGov to apply for a unique identifying number and obtain the necessary form(s) to notify their authorised deposit-taking institution.

The authorised deposit-taking institution lodges its monthly returns using this unique identifying number.

Licensees maintaining a trust account that was opened prior to 31 December 2014 must also obtain a unique identifying number and have it registered by their authorised deposit taking institution.

How can I register online?

Access the trust account registration to get a unique identifying number for all trust accounts you intend to open or maintain.

Once you enter your licence number and email address, you will be sent a confirmation email with a notification form in duplicate attached.

Print the forms and lodge them with your financial institution and keep the duplicate once stamped by the financial institution.

Access the trust account registration

Authorised deposit-taking institutions’ requirements

The Act sets out requirements for approved authorised deposit-taking institutions with regard to:

calculating interest on agents' trust accounts
paying a prescribed proportion of interest earned on agents' trust accounts to the Property Services Statutory Interest Account
monthly reporting to the Secretary, and
providing the Secretary their annual auditor’s certificate.

Exempt trust accounts

An authorised deposit-taking institution is not required to pay interest to the Statutory Interest Account or provide monthly reports to NSW Fair Trading for trust accounts that are a 'Separate' trust account:

kept on the instructions of the client for the exclusive benefit of the client, or
for the exclusive benefit of both a vendor and purchaser of land.

Requirements when closing a trust account

A licensee must, within 14 days after closing a trust account, either:

notify Fair Trading online through Service NSW, or
complete the Green Form and submit it to NSW Fair Trading.

A copy of the Green Form can be obtained by clicking on the link shown below.

Note: If a financial institution has not fully uploaded their file records online on the Government Licensing System, via the Notification of Closing a Trust Account, the system will not recognise the account number entered by an agent.

The licensee must keep the trust account closure confirmation notice for three years.

The Green Form needs to be signed by the licensee (in duplicate):

Download the Trust account notice (green form)

Unclaimed trust money

From 1 July 2013, the responsibility for handling unclaimed trust money was transferred from NSW Fair Trading to Revenue NSW.

The Unclaimed Money Act 1995 now applies to unclaimed money held in a trust account under the Act.

Trust money is considered unclaimed if it has been held by a licensee for more than two years in a trust account. This applies to all amounts of money.

A licensee must make reasonable efforts to locate the owner of any outstanding money in the trust account.

Failure to do so could attract a penalty of up to $5,500.

Money held in a trust account by a former licensee or the personal representative of a deceased licensee is unclaimed money and must be returned to the Revenue NSW within three months after the person ceased to be a licensee or became a personal representative.

Failure to comply can attract a penalty of up to $5,500 and up to $550 for each additional day of non-compliance.

What to do with unclaimed trust money

All returns and payments should be made to the Chief Commissioner Revenue NSW, and not to Fair Trading.

Visit the unclaimed money page of the Revenue NSW website for more information.

Trust account audit requirements

Licensees' records in relation to the handling of trust money must be audited.

Who is required to have their trust accounts audited?

The following people must have their trust accounts audited if they received or held trust money during the financial year ending 30 June:

a licensee (corporation or individual)
a former licensee (corporation or individual), or
a personal representative of a licensee.

Generally, for licensed corporations, it is the corporation that receives and is responsible for trust funds and not an individual licensee. In these cases, the corporation must ensure the trust account audit takes place.

However, if an individual licensee receives and is responsible for trust money, then they must ensure the trust account audit is done.

Who is required to submit an audit?

All trust account audits must be completed and submitted online by the auditor through the Auditor’s Report Online portal.

When must the audit be submitted?

All audits must be submitted to the Secretary within 3 months after the end of the audit period and no later than 30 September of that year.

Please note that all previously approved alternate audit periods are now rescinded.

If a trust account audit is not submitted by the due date, licensees could be disqualified from holding or renewing a licence.

Who can conduct the audit?

Auditors must be qualified under section 115 of the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002.

Registered audit companies, authorised company auditors and members of a Professional Accounting Body holding a Public Practising Certificate or Certificate of Public Practice can conduct the audit.

Professional Accounting Body is defined under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, for example, CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the Institute of Public Accountants.

Who can't conduct the audit?

Within the last 2 years of the audit period, an auditor must not have been employed by, nor be a partner of, the person whose records or documents are to be audited.

An auditor must not be a licensee, or a shareholder in a corporation that is a licensee with less than 20 shareholders.

Check that an auditor is registered by searching for their details on the ASIC website.

To prepare an audit report for trust money held during the 2021/22 financial year, visit the Trust account auditors page.

Audits must be submitted using Auditor’s Report Online.

If you have any questions about the audit requirements, contact Fair Trading on 13 32 20.

If no trust money held in 2021/22

If a licensed corporation or an individual licensee holds a trust account during the audit period 2021/22 and there have been no transactions and zero balance, you must send an email with a copy of the bank statement for the full audit period to .

Audits for other financial years

If a licensee has an outstanding audit commitment for any of the previous financial years, send your enquiry to:

Under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 and Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003, all licensees are required to lodge a trust account auditor’s report if they received or held trust money during the audit period.

Only one licensee in a partnership has to lodge an audit for the partnership.

Lodgement must be within 3 months of the end of the audit period which is 30 June each year.

The due date for lodgement is 30 September each year. You still need to lodge even if you ceased trading during the period or only traded for part of the period.

The Act makes it clear it's the licensee’s responsibility to ensure the report is lodged by the due date.

Before engaging an auditor, inform them that the report must be lodged by 30 September and confirm that the auditor will be able to complete the report in time for you to lodge it by the due date.

Give the auditor access to all records and documents relating to money held in a trust account for the audit period, as soon as possible after the end of the audit period.

Monitor the progress of your report with the auditor on a regular basis.

Don't leave the report with the auditor and forget about it.

If your auditor cannot complete the report within the agreed timeframe due to some unforeseen circumstance preventing on time lodgement, you should immediately engage another auditor.

From 1 July 2019, your auditor will be completing and submitting your auditor’s report through the ‘Auditor’s Report Online’ portal.

To confirm engagement of your auditor, you'll need to authorise the auditor through an email from the auditor requesting permission to lodge an Auditor’s Report on your behalf.

When the report is completed and submitted by your auditor, you'll receive a copy via email.

All auditor’s reports are required to be lodged by the due date.

The deadline will only be extended in exceptional circumstances that have existed over a period of time and can be supported by evidence.

Reasons such as unaware of the requirement to lodge, forgetting to provide access to the auditor, allowing insufficient time for the auditor to complete the report, forgetting to lodge the report, the auditor was too busy to get it done in time or the auditor forgot to lodge the report, aren't acceptable.

If an auditor’s report isn't lodged by the due date or not lodged at all, and you don't have an acceptable reason.

Fair Trading will contact you and take action based on your circumstances.

Failure to lodge by the due date makes an individual or corporation a disqualified person under the Act and liable to disciplinary action.

Alternatively, Fair Trading could issue a $550 fine for a late lodged audit by an individual or $1,100 for a corporation.

A $1,100 fine applies for a late lodged statutory declaration by an individual or corporation.

Failure to lodge an auditor’s report means you may not be able to renew your licence until you lodge.