When the Public Trustee has been appointed as Administrator by SACAT, this means we are responsible for your finances.

In many cases, you will receive an allowance for personal spending. This allowance is from the budget that’s been developed for you.

It is usually deposited into your bank account so you can access the money directly.

Nominated persons and money

In the Administration Order, SACAT may nominate a person to communicate with the Public Trustee. This person acts as a 'go-between' between us and the protected person.

This nominated person can provide information to help us make decisions.

They also play an important advocacy role by making suggestions about how to spend your money to make sure your needs are being met and quality of life maintained.

They can also give us advice about extra money that might be needed in addition to the usual allowance. This could include extra funds for things like clothing, hairdressers, repairs, holidays and gifts.

If you are a carer or nominated liaison person, you must consult with us about any proposed purchases first.

This is so we can make sure the purchase is affordable and appropriate for the protected person.

If the purchase goes ahead, we will negotiate with you about the best way for the payment to be made, which will usually be directly to the supplier.

Investing your funds

If your estate includes cash, proceeds from the sale of assets and estate income, these funds are placed into our Cash Common Fund.

Funds from all the estates we manage go into this account, and expenditure is paid from it too.

The money held in this fund earns interest equivalent to current short-term interest rates.

If you hold funds greater than $25,000 and won't need to use this in the near future, these funds may be invested in one of our Standard Investment Strategies - or in superannuation.

We carefully review your personal and financial circumstances to determine the most appropriate level of investment.

Getting information about your finances

As a protected person, you will receive a financial statement each quarter. You can also request access to your financial information at any time.

Your financial affairs are confidential - however there are some circumstances where we are required to provide information about your affairs to a third party.

See our privacy guidelines for more details.