Administering trust accounts

Why this is important

A trust account is used to manage money received, held and used for a specific purpose. Some trust accounts are hypothecated. This means that funds in these accounts can only be used for the purposes outlined in legislation. Victoria has hypothecated accounts that fund a wide range of activities, including preventing gambling harm, providing infrastructure in growing urban areas, and maintaining parks and gardens. 

On 30 June 2025, Victoria had $19.2 billion in trust accounts. The major trust accounts include the Community Support Fund that receives a percentage of revenue generated from electronic gaming machines (which had a balance of $323.8 million) and the Sustainability Trust Fund (which had $545.7 million).

The Department of Treasury and Finance and other departments administer trust funds on behalf of the government according to their special purpose. This may include investing money in bank deposits and other financial investments.

There is no aggregated public reporting on the number and total value of Victoria's various trust accounts. Although departments report publicly on trust account balances, they do not always need to report on how they use money from trust accounts. This means the public has little insight into whether trust accounts are achieving their intended outcomes.

What we plan to examine

We plan to examine if departments administer trust accounts transparently and for their intended purposes.

Who we plan to examine

All departments

Further information

This is a limited assurance review.