Section 113(18) of the Supreme Court Act 1986 allows the Senior Master to pay from the Common Funds’ Guarantee and Reserve Account (G&R) the administration expenses of the Office. G&R is also intended to serve as a prudential safeguard for the investments of the Common Funds.

G&R is applied to meet all administration expenses, including the salaries and on-costs of all staff employed in the Office. During the 2024–25 financial year, those expenses totalled approximately $15.78 million. The income which G&R produced met some of this cost. The bulk of the balance was made up by fixing rates of income in respect of Common Fund No. 2, pursuant to sections 113(14) and (15) of the Act, which are slightly less than the income actually produced by the investments of the Common Fund.

For detailed information see our Cost Recovery page.

Administration expense ratio

The administration expense ratio (AER) for Funds in Court for the 2024–5 financial year is 0.65%.

For an explanation of the AER see our Cost Recovery page.

How does Funds in Court’s AER measure against similar organisations?

The AERs of Funds in Court and other trustee organisations for the 2024–25 financial year are shown below.

Bar graph of the administration expense ratio for 2024-25 for Australia’s trustee organisations. Funds in Court is lowest at 0.65%, compared to 2.88% for State Trustees Limited of Victoria. In increasing order, the other organisations are The Public Trustee South Australia 1.32%, New South Wales Trustee and Guardian 1.76%, Public Trustee Australian Capital Territory 1.93%, Public Trustee Western Australia 3.34% and The Public Trustee Queensland 4.31%.

The AER is the total expenditure excluding depreciation for the financial year divided by the total assets under management and trusteeship and the end of the financial year.

Sources

  • State Trustees Limited 2025 annual report pages 50 and 92
  • NSW Trustee & Guardian 2025 annual report pages 51 and 87
  • Public Trustee ACT 2025 annual report pages 56 and 110
  • Public Trustee WA 2025 annual report pages 23 and 27
  • The Public Trustee QLD 2025 annual report pages 30, 56 and 69
  • The Public Trustee SA website.