Reforms to the system of managing unclaimed bank deposits by the former Gillard Labor government delivered a revenue windfall to the Commonwealth in the last five years, according to official disclosures made in ASIC's 2017 annual report.The controversial reforms, which have since been reversed by the coalition government, resulted in deposit balances being transferred to ASIC's unclaimed money unit if there were no account transactions after three years.While the former Abbott government reversed the changes back to seven years in 2015, the effect of the Labor reforms was to boost the coffers of the federal government by at least A$160 million.Estimates made by an independent actuary in 2012 found that $296.5 million of cash sitting in unclaimed bank accounts was not likely to be claimed by account holders.However, according to the latest actuarial assessment published in ASIC's 2017 accounts, that amount has blown out to $455.3 million.This item is revealed as a contingent liability in ASIC's accounts because it represents the amount of unclaimed bank deposits lodged with the regulator "where the likelihood of a successful claim is regarded as remote".Many of the accounts classified by ASIC as "dormant" belonged to primary school children who did not continue to transact on their accounts.Welfare agencies have also raised concerns that dementia sufferers and elderly Australians with chronic health conditions were also likely to be over-represented in the population of unclaimed deposit accounts.The disclosure will likely renew calls from consumer advocates for ASIC to take more proactive steps to reunite unclaimed money with retail depositors.The dramatic growth in unclaimed money that is unlikely to be returned to legal owners is mostly attributable to dormant personal bank accounts.When money from unclaimed life insurance policies and other financial products are added to dormant deposits, the actuary found that $815 million was not likely to be returned to owners.In 2012 ASIC's independent actuary estimated that there was only a remote chance of $620 million being reunited with the owners of such assets.