NOTE: This page does not relate to the Stolen Wages QLD matter
Latest Update
23 September 2026
Top-up payments
We are pleased to advise that as per Paragraph 4 of Annexure A of the Orders, the Administrators have made Top-up payments to all Category 1 claimants on 23 September 2026.
Category 1 Claimants, as per Paragraph 1 of Annexure A of the Orders, are:
For claimants receiving payment by cheque, payments will be issued by express post over the coming week. Please allow sufficient time for delivery before contacting the Administrators regarding the status of your payment. If you have not received your cheque by 23 October 2026, please contact the Administrators at [email protected].
If you have recently changed your postal address or banking details and have not previously notified the Administrators, please contact us as soon as possible.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Top-up payments will not be made in respect of Original Eligible Claimants and Deceased Original Eligible claimants born on or after 1 January 1930.
CALL CENTRE
The Stolen Wages Call Centre will reopen on 24 September 2026 and remain available until 2 October 2026 to assist claimants with enquiries regarding the above payments.
From 3 October 2026, the Call Centre will close. Following that date, enquiries can be directed to the Administrators by email at [email protected].
The Administrators thank claimants, their families and representatives for their patience and cooperation throughout the administration of the Western Australia Stolen Wages Scheme.
Thank you
Administrators
We are pleased to advise that as per Paragraph 4 of Annexure A of the Orders, the Administrators have made Top-up payments to all Category 1 claimants on 23 September 2026.
Category 1 Claimants, as per Paragraph 1 of Annexure A of the Orders, are:
- Original Eligible claimants born before 1 January 1930; or
- Deceased Original Eligible claimants born before 1 January 1930.
- Number of claims made against a deceased claimant; and
- Recovery of previously identified over payment.
For claimants receiving payment by cheque, payments will be issued by express post over the coming week. Please allow sufficient time for delivery before contacting the Administrators regarding the status of your payment. If you have not received your cheque by 23 October 2026, please contact the Administrators at [email protected].
If you have recently changed your postal address or banking details and have not previously notified the Administrators, please contact us as soon as possible.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Top-up payments will not be made in respect of Original Eligible Claimants and Deceased Original Eligible claimants born on or after 1 January 1930.
CALL CENTRE
The Stolen Wages Call Centre will reopen on 24 September 2026 and remain available until 2 October 2026 to assist claimants with enquiries regarding the above payments.
From 3 October 2026, the Call Centre will close. Following that date, enquiries can be directed to the Administrators by email at [email protected].
The Administrators thank claimants, their families and representatives for their patience and cooperation throughout the administration of the Western Australia Stolen Wages Scheme.
Thank you
Administrators
Update
11 September 2026
IMPORTANT
Please be advised that the Call Centre is temporarily closed until 24 September to allow the team to finalise the calculation of the Top Up payments.
We stress that Top Up payments are only available to original claimants, or for claims made for deceased parents, who were born before 1 January 1930.
Accordingly, if you, or your deceased parents were not born before 1 January 1930, you will not be eligible for a top up payment and no further payments will be made in relation to the scheme.
We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period.
Thank you
Administrators
Please be advised that the Call Centre is temporarily closed until 24 September to allow the team to finalise the calculation of the Top Up payments.
We stress that Top Up payments are only available to original claimants, or for claims made for deceased parents, who were born before 1 January 1930.
Accordingly, if you, or your deceased parents were not born before 1 January 1930, you will not be eligible for a top up payment and no further payments will be made in relation to the scheme.
We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period.
Thank you
Administrators
Update
24 June 2026
Thank you for calling the Visiting the Western Australian Stolen Wages Website.
Please note that - If you are calling the call centre regarding the
Northern Territory Stolen Wages or the Stolen Generation matters, we are unfortunately unable to provide any assistance on these matters.
Please be advised that the application process has closed for Stolen Wages WA, and we are not able to accept any new claims.
If you are calling about an existing claim, we confirm that the next round of Distribution Statements will be issued after 3 July 2026.
We wish to advise that nothing further is required at this stage and you do not need to contact the call centre unless there is an error with the Distribution Statement.
We appreciate your patience and understanding and stress that we are doing our utmost to ensure all claimants receive their funds as soon as possible.
Thank you
Administrators
Please note that - If you are calling the call centre regarding the
Northern Territory Stolen Wages or the Stolen Generation matters, we are unfortunately unable to provide any assistance on these matters.
Please be advised that the application process has closed for Stolen Wages WA, and we are not able to accept any new claims.
If you are calling about an existing claim, we confirm that the next round of Distribution Statements will be issued after 3 July 2026.
We wish to advise that nothing further is required at this stage and you do not need to contact the call centre unless there is an error with the Distribution Statement.
We appreciate your patience and understanding and stress that we are doing our utmost to ensure all claimants receive their funds as soon as possible.
Thank you
Administrators
Update
12 March 2026
Latest reports have been uploaded to the Documents section of the website.
These documents pertain to reports to the SSO, to the courts and to related parties.
These documents pertain to reports to the SSO, to the courts and to related parties.
Update
3 December 2025
Dear Claimants
Thank you for your continued patience.
CALL CENTRE
The Call Centre is currently being inundated with calls and accordingly we provide the following update to assist claimants.
We ask that you review the following update and that you limit calls to the call centre unless we have requested that you do so.
CHRISTMAS PERIOD CLOSURE: The Call Centre will be closed for the Christmas period being from 17 December 2025 to 12 January 2026 at which time it will re-open.
IMPORTANT: CALLS TO GRANT THORNTON RECEPTION
Please do not call the Grant Thornton Reception as they are unable to progress your call any faster. Any calls made to the Grant Thornton Reception will be transferred back to the Call Centre.
The only contact number for Stolen Wages Western Australia is (08) 9480 2005.
UPDATE
1) DISTRIBUTION STATEMENTS
We have commenced issuing Distribution Statements to an additional 2,200 Original and Descendent Eligible Claimants (claims made by yourself in relation to a deceased parent or spouse) whose claims have been deemed eligible as part of the Request for Information process.
If the Bank account details on your Distribution Statement are correct, we advise that nothing further is required from you.
IMPORTANT: payments to claimants will commence on or immediately after the 16th of January 2026. Please allow for a few days after the 16th for payments to clear.
2) UPDATE FOR CLAIMANTS WHO RECEIVED A REQUEST FOR SUPPORTING INFORMATION
A letter has been issued by the Administrators to approximately 2,300 claimants who had either failed to reply to our Request For Information or who unfortunately completed it incorrectly.
Timing on response from Administrators: We are currently working through the information received.
Please do not call the call centre to seek confirmation as to whether we received your information, we stress that every claimant will receive correspondence from the Administrators to advise of the outcome.
_______________________________________________________
What is next:
FAQS
Please monitor the FAQs as they will be updated to assist you with any questions sounding the distribution.
Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
Thank you
Administrators
Thank you for your continued patience.
CALL CENTRE
The Call Centre is currently being inundated with calls and accordingly we provide the following update to assist claimants.
We ask that you review the following update and that you limit calls to the call centre unless we have requested that you do so.
CHRISTMAS PERIOD CLOSURE: The Call Centre will be closed for the Christmas period being from 17 December 2025 to 12 January 2026 at which time it will re-open.
IMPORTANT: CALLS TO GRANT THORNTON RECEPTION
Please do not call the Grant Thornton Reception as they are unable to progress your call any faster. Any calls made to the Grant Thornton Reception will be transferred back to the Call Centre.
The only contact number for Stolen Wages Western Australia is (08) 9480 2005.
UPDATE
1) DISTRIBUTION STATEMENTS
We have commenced issuing Distribution Statements to an additional 2,200 Original and Descendent Eligible Claimants (claims made by yourself in relation to a deceased parent or spouse) whose claims have been deemed eligible as part of the Request for Information process.
If the Bank account details on your Distribution Statement are correct, we advise that nothing further is required from you.
IMPORTANT: payments to claimants will commence on or immediately after the 16th of January 2026. Please allow for a few days after the 16th for payments to clear.
2) UPDATE FOR CLAIMANTS WHO RECEIVED A REQUEST FOR SUPPORTING INFORMATION
A letter has been issued by the Administrators to approximately 2,300 claimants who had either failed to reply to our Request For Information or who unfortunately completed it incorrectly.
Timing on response from Administrators: We are currently working through the information received.
Please do not call the call centre to seek confirmation as to whether we received your information, we stress that every claimant will receive correspondence from the Administrators to advise of the outcome.
_______________________________________________________
What is next:
- The Call Centre will be closed for the Christmas period being from 17 December 2025 to 12 January 2026 at which time it will re-open.
- The next round of payments will be issued on or around 16 January 2026 to a combination of Original Eligible Claimants and Descendant Eligible Claimants.
- The next round of Distribution Statements will be issued in early February 2026 at the completion of our review of the RFI responses.
FAQS
Please monitor the FAQs as they will be updated to assist you with any questions sounding the distribution.
Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
Thank you
Administrators
Update
7 November 2025
Dear Claimants
Thank you for your continued patience.
The Call Centre is currently being inundated with calls and accordingly we provide the following update to assist claimants.
We ask that you review the following update and that you limit calls to the call centre unless we have requested that you do so.
IMPORTANT: CALLS TO GRANT THORNTON RECEPTION
Please do not call the Grant Thornton Reception. Any calls made to the Grant Thornton Reception will not be transferred.
The only contact number for Stolen Wages Western Australia is (08) 9480 2005.
UPDATE
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENTS
We have now commenced issuing payments to 5,400 Descendent Eligible Claimants (claims made by yourself in relation to a deceased parent or spouse) who received distribution statements on or after 3 October 2025.
For those receiving payments via cheques, given the remote location of some claimants, we are advised that delivery times may be longer than usual.
IMPORTANT: Cheque payments will not be converted to Electronic Payments for any reason, other than there being an issue with the cheque itself (incorrect spelling of name for example), or if it is not received by 1 December 2025.
UPDATE FOR CLAIMANTS WHO RECEIVED A REQUEST FOR SUPPORTING INFOMRATION
A letter has been issued by the Administrators to approximately 3,500 claimants seeking additional information on their claim.
We have received a substantial number of responses from claimants and thank those who have assisted us.
Timing on response from Administrators: We are currently working through the information received. We consider that this process will be completed over the next 3 weeks (up to 1 December 2025), at which point you will receive correspondence from us.
Please do not call the call centre to seek confirmation as to whether we received your information, unless you do not hear from us by 1 December 2025. We stress that every claimant will receive correspondence from the Administrators to advise of the outcome.
FOR CLAIMANTS WHO ARE YET TO RECEIVE DISTRISBUTION STATEMENTS
For claimants who are yet to receive distribution statements (and didn’t receive the request for more information), this can mean two things:
OR
IMPORTANT: There are currently no issues with your claim, and a Distribution Statement (and payment) will be completed in due course.
CALL CENTRE – Operating times
To assist with the review of the information provided by the 3,500 claimants and to ensure that we can get as many claims processed by 1 December 2025, the Call Centre’s operational times change to the following:
OPEN TIMES: 8:30am to 12:00pm from 7 November 2025.
We appreciate that call wait times may be significant at times and we ask for your patience and that you limit calls to the centre for urgent matters.
_______________________________________________________
What is next:
The next round of Distribution Statements will be issued on or around 14 November 2025 to a combination of Original Eligible Claimants and Descendant Eligible Claimants.
Payment to these Claimants will commence on or around 8 December 2025.
_______________________________________________________
FAQS
Please monitor the FAQs as they will be updated over the coming days to assist you with any questions sounding the distribution.
Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
Thank you
Administrators
7 November 2025
Thank you for your continued patience.
The Call Centre is currently being inundated with calls and accordingly we provide the following update to assist claimants.
We ask that you review the following update and that you limit calls to the call centre unless we have requested that you do so.
IMPORTANT: CALLS TO GRANT THORNTON RECEPTION
Please do not call the Grant Thornton Reception. Any calls made to the Grant Thornton Reception will not be transferred.
The only contact number for Stolen Wages Western Australia is (08) 9480 2005.
UPDATE
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENTS
We have now commenced issuing payments to 5,400 Descendent Eligible Claimants (claims made by yourself in relation to a deceased parent or spouse) who received distribution statements on or after 3 October 2025.
For those receiving payments via cheques, given the remote location of some claimants, we are advised that delivery times may be longer than usual.
IMPORTANT: Cheque payments will not be converted to Electronic Payments for any reason, other than there being an issue with the cheque itself (incorrect spelling of name for example), or if it is not received by 1 December 2025.
UPDATE FOR CLAIMANTS WHO RECEIVED A REQUEST FOR SUPPORTING INFOMRATION
A letter has been issued by the Administrators to approximately 3,500 claimants seeking additional information on their claim.
We have received a substantial number of responses from claimants and thank those who have assisted us.
Timing on response from Administrators: We are currently working through the information received. We consider that this process will be completed over the next 3 weeks (up to 1 December 2025), at which point you will receive correspondence from us.
Please do not call the call centre to seek confirmation as to whether we received your information, unless you do not hear from us by 1 December 2025. We stress that every claimant will receive correspondence from the Administrators to advise of the outcome.
FOR CLAIMANTS WHO ARE YET TO RECEIVE DISTRISBUTION STATEMENTS
For claimants who are yet to receive distribution statements (and didn’t receive the request for more information), this can mean two things:
- If you are an Original Eligible Claimant - Your claim is in the final tranche of claimants that are currently being reviewed, and you will form part of the next distribution after our review is complete;
OR
- If you are a Descendent Claimant – The Administrators have not identified any shortfalls in information on your claim, however a sibling, who has made a claim against the same deceased individual, likely has an issue regarding eligibility. These issues are being reviewed, and you will receive a distribution statement once resolved.
IMPORTANT: There are currently no issues with your claim, and a Distribution Statement (and payment) will be completed in due course.
CALL CENTRE – Operating times
To assist with the review of the information provided by the 3,500 claimants and to ensure that we can get as many claims processed by 1 December 2025, the Call Centre’s operational times change to the following:
OPEN TIMES: 8:30am to 12:00pm from 7 November 2025.
We appreciate that call wait times may be significant at times and we ask for your patience and that you limit calls to the centre for urgent matters.
_______________________________________________________
What is next:
The next round of Distribution Statements will be issued on or around 14 November 2025 to a combination of Original Eligible Claimants and Descendant Eligible Claimants.
Payment to these Claimants will commence on or around 8 December 2025.
_______________________________________________________
FAQS
Please monitor the FAQs as they will be updated over the coming days to assist you with any questions sounding the distribution.
Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
Thank you
Administrators
7 November 2025
Update - 25 August 2025
Dear Claimants
Thank you for your patience.
We confirm that we are currently distributing payments to 1,800 Original Eligible Claimants and note that these payments will conclude shortly.
Distribution Statements relating to Deceased Eligible Claimants will be issued once the review process is completed, and a payment to an additional 4,500 claimants (or 6,500 total claimants paid) will occur in October 2025.
You do not need to contact the call centre if you have already spoken to us, as we will contact you if we require any further information.
We do ask that you continue to be patient as we are working hard to make the payments as quickly as possible.
Thank you
Stolen Wages Team
Thank you for your patience.
We confirm that we are currently distributing payments to 1,800 Original Eligible Claimants and note that these payments will conclude shortly.
Distribution Statements relating to Deceased Eligible Claimants will be issued once the review process is completed, and a payment to an additional 4,500 claimants (or 6,500 total claimants paid) will occur in October 2025.
You do not need to contact the call centre if you have already spoken to us, as we will contact you if we require any further information.
We do ask that you continue to be patient as we are working hard to make the payments as quickly as possible.
Thank you
Stolen Wages Team
IMPORTANT ALERT
PLEASE READ
Dear Claimants,
It has been brought to our attention that at least 1 claimant has received unsolicited messages from an unknown party.
This party is offering their services to claimants, to assist them to gain access to the stolen wages scheme once a payment has been made to their account.
Should you receive any similar messages, please ignore them as they are not legitimate.
If you are concerned about the legitimacy of any emails / texts that you receive in relation to the Stolen Wages matter, please check the Stolen Wages Website and / or contact our call centre immediately.
Thank you,
Stolen Wages Western Australia Team.
It has been brought to our attention that at least 1 claimant has received unsolicited messages from an unknown party.
This party is offering their services to claimants, to assist them to gain access to the stolen wages scheme once a payment has been made to their account.
Should you receive any similar messages, please ignore them as they are not legitimate.
If you are concerned about the legitimacy of any emails / texts that you receive in relation to the Stolen Wages matter, please check the Stolen Wages Website and / or contact our call centre immediately.
Thank you,
Stolen Wages Western Australia Team.
Background
Shine Lawyers in Perth represented Mr Mervyn Street in the Stolen Wages WA Class Action.
The Federal Court on 12 December 2024 appointed David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson from Grant Thornton Australia to administer the Settlement Distribution Scheme. Their role is to distribute the Stolen Wages settlement monies to eligible claimants. Grant Thornton is one of the world's leading independent accounting, audit, tax and advisory firms. It has more than 1,500 people working in offices in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney.
The quickest and easiest way to provide you with information and assistance that you may be seeking is for you to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
The Federal Court on 12 December 2024 appointed David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson from Grant Thornton Australia to administer the Settlement Distribution Scheme. Their role is to distribute the Stolen Wages settlement monies to eligible claimants. Grant Thornton is one of the world's leading independent accounting, audit, tax and advisory firms. It has more than 1,500 people working in offices in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney.
The quickest and easiest way to provide you with information and assistance that you may be seeking is for you to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
What is the Western Australia Stolen Wages Class Action about?
Mr Mervyn Street brought a case in the Federal Court against the Western Australian Government on behalf of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who weren’t paid all their wages or money between 1936 and 1972.
You are a group member if:
A) you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person;
B) between 11 December 1936 and 9 June 1972 you lived in Western Australia and worked at some time or had your property controlled in that period; OR
C) you are representing a family member who qualifies and has since passed away.
Further information about who is eligible to get compensation money from the class action is in the Settlement Notice.
You are a group member if:
A) you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person;
B) between 11 December 1936 and 9 June 1972 you lived in Western Australia and worked at some time or had your property controlled in that period; OR
C) you are representing a family member who qualifies and has since passed away.
Further information about who is eligible to get compensation money from the class action is in the Settlement Notice.
Call Centre information
STOLEN WAGES CONTACT DETAILS
Please call and / or email the team at the following:
Email: [email protected]
Call: (08) 9480 2005
Please call and / or email the team at the following:
Email: [email protected]
Call: (08) 9480 2005