Update #7
We appreciate that the process is taking some time to complete, however, we understand the importance that the payments are received quickly and confirm that we are doing our utmost to progress quickly.
ATO Ruling
While it has unfortunately taken longer than expected, we are pleased to advise that we have now received the Private Ruling from the ATO (CR 2025/41).
We summarise the outcome of the ATO’s ruling as follows:
Centrelink / Social Security payments
We advise that Services Australia (Centrelink) have confirmed that receipts of a Settlement Entitlement under the Stolen Wages Settlement Distribution Scheme will not be counted as income for social security payments. This ultimately means that the payment will not have any effect on the social security payments you may receive.
You will still, however, need to report any payments from the Administrators to Services Australia (Centrelink). The official statement with more information is available on our website, under the documents tab.
What is next:
Now that we have the ATO’s private ruling, we have now focused our attention of the distribution of settlement monies to Original Eligible Claimants. These individuals will receive correspondence from the Administrators over coming weeks (longer if being completed via post) providing details around timing and the amount you will receive.
If you are making the claim on behalf of yourself, please read the document and confirm your bank account information is correct. If the document is correct, no further action is required, and you do not need to contact us.
Important: We stress that descendant claimants are not a part of this first distribution.
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.
What is required from you?
At this stage, we do not require any further information from you and advise that we do not require you to contact the call centre.
Administrators
25 June 2025
ATO Ruling
While it has unfortunately taken longer than expected, we are pleased to advise that we have now received the Private Ruling from the ATO (CR 2025/41).
We summarise the outcome of the ATO’s ruling as follows:
- We note that the purpose of the ruling was to clarify the income tax consequences for individuals receiving payments (Distributions) under the Settlement Distribution Scheme resulting from the class action Street v State of Western Australia [2024] FCA 1368.
- The ATO has determined that:
- Not Ordinary Income: Distributions are not assessable as ordinary income under section 6-5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
- Capital Gains Tax (CGT):
- The ending of the right to seek compensation triggers CGT event C2.
- However, any capital gain or loss is disregarded under subsection 118-37(1) because the payment is for personal wrong, injury, or illness.
Centrelink / Social Security payments
We advise that Services Australia (Centrelink) have confirmed that receipts of a Settlement Entitlement under the Stolen Wages Settlement Distribution Scheme will not be counted as income for social security payments. This ultimately means that the payment will not have any effect on the social security payments you may receive.
You will still, however, need to report any payments from the Administrators to Services Australia (Centrelink). The official statement with more information is available on our website, under the documents tab.
What is next:
Now that we have the ATO’s private ruling, we have now focused our attention of the distribution of settlement monies to Original Eligible Claimants. These individuals will receive correspondence from the Administrators over coming weeks (longer if being completed via post) providing details around timing and the amount you will receive.
If you are making the claim on behalf of yourself, please read the document and confirm your bank account information is correct. If the document is correct, no further action is required, and you do not need to contact us.
Important: We stress that descendant claimants are not a part of this first distribution.
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.
What is required from you?
At this stage, we do not require any further information from you and advise that we do not require you to contact the call centre.
Administrators
25 June 2025
Update #6
New Update 9 Jun 2025
Administrators
9 June 2025
- - Report to the court and Parties - Report to Court and Parties as at 3 June 2025
- - Report to the State Solicitors Office - Report to the SSO as at 3 June 2025
Administrators
9 June 2025
Update #5
New Update 10 April 2025
Thank you for your ongoing patience.
By way of an update, we would like to clarify a number of concerns that are being raised amongst the claimant group.
Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
What is required from you?
At this stage, we do not require any further information from you and advise that we do not require you to contact the call centre.
Administrators
10 April 2025
Thank you for your ongoing patience.
By way of an update, we would like to clarify a number of concerns that are being raised amongst the claimant group.
- We have not made a distribution to any claimants in relation to their stolen wages claim.
- We are currently calling claimants where we require information from them for details that haven’t yet been provided to allow us to assess their claim. We strongly encourage you to initially check the website for updates and FAQs.
- The State Solicitors Office and Grant Thornton are currently reviewing all claims made. All of you WILL receive correspondence from the Administrators advising of you of the outcome.
a. Where your claim has been approved, you will receive a distribution statement from the Administrators.
This will confirm when and how much you will receive, and the method of payment.
b. Where your claim has been rejected, you will be given the opportunity to provide further evidence to support your claim. - We are currently preparing the first round of distributions. This will be made to living Original Eligible Claimants and will be completed following:
a. Confirmation from the Australian Tax office that no tax is to be withheld;
b. Confirmation from Centrelink Australia that the payment will not impact any welfare payments; and
c. Completion of the calls to the relevant claimants to confirm their bank details. - While we are progressing with the balance of the Administration well, we note that there are over 14,000 claimants. A material number of these claimants have not completed the forms correctly / completely, and this is taking time to rectify. We ask for your patience during this process, and, as detailed above, confirm that you will be contacted in due course.
- Payments to Descendent Eligible Claimants will be processed after the Original Eligible Claimants payment, and once we have satisfied ourselves that there are no more claimants to make a claim.
Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
What is required from you?
At this stage, we do not require any further information from you and advise that we do not require you to contact the call centre.
Administrators
10 April 2025
Update #4
New Update 6 March 2025
Report to the court and parties - Report to Court and Parties as at 5 March 2025.
Report to the court and parties - Report to Court and Parties as at 5 March 2025.
Update #3
What is required from you?
At this stage, if you have submitted a claim form, we do not require any further information from you.
We will contact you directly if there are any questions about your claim.
At this stage, if you have submitted a claim form, we do not require any further information from you.
We will contact you directly if there are any questions about your claim.
Update
Thank you for your ongoing patience.
We appreciate that this matter is very important to you, and we are working as quickly and as diligently as possible.
Unfortunately, this process will take some time and we appreciate your patience. Please see the following update:
David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson
Administrators
24 February 2025
Thank you for your ongoing patience.
We appreciate that this matter is very important to you, and we are working as quickly and as diligently as possible.
Unfortunately, this process will take some time and we appreciate your patience. Please see the following update:
- On 12 December 2024, David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson were appointed the Administrators of the Western Australia Stolen Wages Distribution Scheme (“the Scheme”).
- Since the Administrators’ appointment, we have been working closely with Shine Lawyers to transition the contact / claim data of more than 13,000 claimants across to the Administrators’ systems.
- We now confirm that we have received this data and are currently processing this information into a usable format. In the meantime, the Administrators are working with the State Solicitors Office.
- Pursuant to the Scheme, Original Eligible Claimants will receive a minimum payment of $10,000, to a maximum of $16,500. The actual payment amount will be determined by the Administrators following their review of the claims, and assessment of the costs approved to be paid from the Settlement funds.
- In respect of deceased Original Eligible Claimants, Descendent Eligible Claimants are to receive the same amount but shared equally if there is more than one Descendent Eligible Claimant.
- Payments to Original Eligible Claimants and/or Descendent Eligible Claimants will be made progressively in separate batches, at which time those claimants being paid will receive a Distribution Statement detailing the amount being paid. Please see the website (https://www.stolenwageswa.com.au/faq.html) for further information on this process.
- We are currently working with the Australian Taxation office to confirm our position in relation to PAYG tax to be withheld as part of the payment.
- At this stage, the Administrators anticipate this process will take at least 6 months to complete entirely however we again note that some claimants will receive their payments much sooner.
David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson
Administrators
24 February 2025
Update #2
The Stolen Wages Class Action was recently settled with the Western Australian Government for up to $180.4m. The formal orders approving the settlement were made by the Federal Court on 12 December 2024 and a copy is available in the Documents tab.
The Court appointed us, Tony Jonsson and David Hodgson of Grant Thornton Australia Limited, to administer the distribution of the settlement monies to eligible claimants.
We will not be able to finalise the entitlement of claimants until after the Federal Court appeal period expires on 21 February 2025. If no appeal is lodged, then from 22 February 2025 we will review the eligibility of all claims and ensure we have up-to-date information for all registered claimants and registered representatives for claimants that have passed away.
Information about the Stolen Wages Class Action, the settlement scheme, the distribution process and the information sessions will be available on this website as they are released, so check back regularly.
If you require further information or assistance, please call the Stolen Wages Hotline on (08) 9480 2005 or send an email to [email protected].
David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson
Administrators
18 December 2024
The Court appointed us, Tony Jonsson and David Hodgson of Grant Thornton Australia Limited, to administer the distribution of the settlement monies to eligible claimants.
We will not be able to finalise the entitlement of claimants until after the Federal Court appeal period expires on 21 February 2025. If no appeal is lodged, then from 22 February 2025 we will review the eligibility of all claims and ensure we have up-to-date information for all registered claimants and registered representatives for claimants that have passed away.
Information about the Stolen Wages Class Action, the settlement scheme, the distribution process and the information sessions will be available on this website as they are released, so check back regularly.
If you require further information or assistance, please call the Stolen Wages Hotline on (08) 9480 2005 or send an email to [email protected].
David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson
Administrators
18 December 2024
Update #1
Settlement Approval Hearing
Following a two-day hearing on 28 and 29 October 2024, Justice Murphy of the Federal Court of Australia proposed to approve the settlement in the Western Australia Stolen Wages Class Action. The next steps in the settlement process are below:
David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson
Administrators
28 November 2024
Following a two-day hearing on 28 and 29 October 2024, Justice Murphy of the Federal Court of Australia proposed to approve the settlement in the Western Australia Stolen Wages Class Action. The next steps in the settlement process are below:
- The Court will deliver a written judgment about the settlement.
- The Court will appoint an independent administrator to determine the exact amount each eligible group member will receive from the settlement, and when payments will be made.
- The Court will make orders about other deductions from the settlement fund, including the Applicant’s legal fees and the costs of the funder.
David Hodgson and Tony Jonsson
Administrators
28 November 2024