TheScarecrow wrote:its not actually theft.
From what little I know of propertly law, if you find some money on the sidewalk, in the park etc etc you are allowed to keep it. BUT if the person who dropped the money comes to you and asks for the money. You HAVE to give it back.... whether it was spent or not.
it actually IS theft. there's no such thing as "finder's keepers". what if it were not money the old lady dropped, but her infant grandchild? if you took the infant, you'd be kidnapping that child. of course, children are not property, but that's why it's considered kidnapping, and not theft. it is the same principle of moral logic, however.
i'm sure Australia has the same laws as are here in the USA, concerning such matters.
in the USA, at least, in order to obey the law, one must attempt to return the money to the old lady. say she was already off and gone in the cab... then, the legally proper thing to do is to notify the Police, and give it to them. if the old lady does not claim the money within 30 days, it is the finder's to keep.
this, of course, is operating under the common practice of someone to call the Police when they lose something, in case someone turned it in. a civil 'lost and found'.