Territory of Christmas Island

Unclaimed Moneys Ordinance 1974

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, hereby make the following Ordinance under the Christmas Island Act 1958-1973.

Dated 13 August, 1974.

JOHN R. KERR

Governor-General

By His Excellency’s Command,

LIONEL BOWEN

Territory of Christmas Island

Unclaimed Moneys Ordinance 1974

Ordinance No. 3 of 1974

made under the

An Ordinance relating to Unclaimed Moneys in the Hands of Employers

Contents

                                                                                                                 Page

                        1     Short title                                                                       

                        2     Unclaimed moneys                                                         

                        3     Administrator to pay money to an employee out of Consolidated Revenue Fund       

                        4     Discharge to employer                                                    

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1              Short title

                This Ordinance may be cited as the Unclaimed Moneys Ordinance 1974.¹

2              Unclaimed moneys

         (1)   Subject to subsection (2), where:

                (a)    an employee has left the employ of an employer without having been paid an amount of money to which he is entitled to be paid by the employer; and

               (b)    the employer is unable to pay the amount to the employee because the whereabouts of the employee are unknown to him,

                the employer may pay into the Consolidated Revenue Fund an amount equal to the amount referred to in paragraph (a).

         (2)   An employer shall not pay an amount into the Consolidated Revenue Fund under subsection (1) unless:

                (a)    he has caused a prescribed notice to be published in the Government Gazette of the Territory and in a newspaper circulating in the place where the employee was recruited by the employer; and

               (b)    a period of six months has elapsed since the date on which the prescribed notice was published in accordance with paragraph (a).

         (3)   For the purposes of subsection (2) a prescribed notice is a notice that contains particulars of:

                (a)    the full names of the employer and the employee;

               (b)    the period during which the employee was employed in Christmas Island by the employer; and

                (c)    the last known address of the employee in the place where he was recruited by the employer,

                and states that the employee is entitled to be paid an amount of money by the employer.

3              Administrator to pay money to an employee out of Consolidated Revenue Fund

                Where an amount of money to which an employee is entitled has been paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund under section 2, the Administrator shall, at the written request of that employee, pay to that employee an amount of money equal to the first-mentioned amount.

4              Discharge to employer

                Payment of an amount to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in pursuance of section 2 is a sufficient discharge to the employer, as against the employee, for the amount paid.

1.       Notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 27 August 1974.