Public Trustee commission: how three states set it

South Australia: the rates are in the regulations

Section 45(1) of the Public Trustee Act 1995 (version of 1 July 2025) lets the Public Trustee charge each estate under its control commission and fees “at rates or in amounts fixed by the regulations”, or at rates it determines in particular cases “subject to maxima or minima rates or amounts fixed by the regulations”. The Public Trustee Regulations 2025 came into operation on 31 July 2025, the day they were made, and set those rates in Schedule 2, for estates under the Public Trustee’s control other than under s 75 of the Succession Act 2023. Where a schedule gives a maximum or minimum, “the Public Trustee may determine the rate or amount in a particular case, subject to that maximum or minimum”.

Commission on capital

Schedule 2, clause 1(1) applies to deceased estates, trust estates and funds the Public Trustee holds, and to protected persons’ estates it manages, on the proceeds of assets realised, money collected and the value of certain unrealised property. On those amounts, commission “must be charged at a rate not exceeding the maximum rates set out in the following table”:

The Act qualifies those maximums in two ways. Under s 45(5), on an application by the Public Trustee or anyone with an interest, the Court may, having regard to the special circumstances of a particular case, fix the commission at a higher or a lower rate than the regulations fix or allow, or direct that no commission be charged. Under s 45A, where the Public Trustee is liable to pay GST on a commission or fee that has a limit, it may, subject to the terms on which it provides the service, charge up to an amount that, once the GST is deducted, is equivalent to the most the limit allows.

Other clauses of Schedule 2 add rules of their own, among them these (the rest are in the regulations, linked below):

• Property sold subject to a mortgage or charge: “the amount of the mortgage or charge is considered part of the proceeds”.
• A home a deceased person shared with a spouse or domestic partner, or household furniture and effects, transferred to or sold for that spouse or partner: no more than half the clause 1(1) maximum on the value of the spouse’s or partner’s share.
• Money paid to the Public Trustee for a person by order or rule of a court: no more than the clause 1 maximum, but where a portion is directed to be paid immediately, commission “must be charged at a rate not exceeding 1%”.
• “Commission on capital must not be charged more than once during the course of the administration of the estate, trust or fund.”

Commission on income

Under clause 8(1), commission on income the Public Trustee receives for an estate, trust, fund or property it holds alone or with another person must be charged at the rate of 5% on income other than rent, or 7.5% on rent. It is charged on gross income, except where the Public Trustee carries on a business, when it is charged on the business’s gross income less its revenue expenditure. On rents collected by an agent the Public Trustee employs and pays a commission, the rate is 2.5%.

Common funds

Money invested in a common fund carries its own ceilings: commission on capital “not exceeding the maximum rate of 1% of the capital amount invested” (Schedule 1 clause 1), and on income “not exceeding the maximum rate of 5%”. Under s 29 of the Act, the monthly management fee charged against an estate’s money in a common fund “must not exceed one-twelfth of 1.2%” of the value attributable to it at the month’s last business day.

Queensland: fees fixed by gazette notice

Queensland’s Public Trustee Act 1978 (current as at 28 April 2026) does not print rates. Section 17 sets how they are fixed:

Section 17(4) requires each amount to be decided having regard to “(a) the type and complexity of the service performed; (b) the degree of care, responsibility, skill or special knowledge required to perform the service”. The notice is “subordinate legislation and exempt subordinate legislation” (s 17(6)).

Western Australia: a scale published in the Gazette

In the fees Part of WA’s Public Trustee Act 1941 (as at 12 December 2025), “fees includes commissions and other charges” (s 38). Under s 38A, the Public Trustee from time to time, in accordance with the current agreement (the agreement under s 6B(1) that is in force), determines a scale of fees, and “A scale of fees has no effect unless it is published in the Gazette.” The scale may set different rates for different classes of estate, and the time and manner of charging them.

Under s 38B, fees are payable out of the estate’s capital or income, and may be taken at any time after administration starts in the time and manner set by “the latest scale of fees of the Public Trustee published before the commencement of the administration or management of the estate”. A reasonable fee may also be charged for preparing and lodging returns for duties or taxes other than probate, death, succession or estate duties. The Public Trustee may waive any fee, wholly or in part, where it is satisfied there is proper cause.

Executors other than a Public Trustee are covered, for three states, in the guide to executors’ commission; charitable trusts held by a trustee company are in the charitable trust guide.