When Wangaratta local Ross Benton lost his phone and wallet in Melbourne, the last thing he expected after a two hour search was to have it returned to him by a stranger.

After spending the day at an Australia Day rally in Melbourne, Ross made his way to Southern Cross Station to wait for his departing train home when he realised he was missing his phone and wallet.

"My whole life is in here" he said, holding up his now retrieved phone in hand.

"It had all my money in it, all my cards, my driver's license.

He called his wife using someone's phone at the ticketing office, who then phoned his number, only to be answered by a young man who said he was waiting by platform 2A.

"Well there's about 25 signs saying 'platform 2A'," Ross said.

"So at the end of about two hours of searching, I've gone round to where I thought platform 2A was.

"Of course, he doesn't know me and I don't know him.

"I saw what looked like a kid that lives on the street... I thought 'well, he won't have it'.

"But there was no one else around so I went up to him and said 'have you got a phone?'"

Ross said the young man was "overjoyed" to have found him after waiting 40 minutes where he had left his phone, while Ross admitted he was overwhelmed with his integrity and his honesty.

"Now, he may have been the son of a millionaire or the son of a pauper, but that wasn't the point," he said.

"When I found him, I just said how wonderful it was that he held onto it."

Despite the man sincerely refusing a reward for his good deed, Ross persisted and he eventually accepted it.

Ross emphasised the fact that it was a truly fitting encounter to happen on Australia Day of all days.

"I felt good for Australia," he said.

"It made me feel good that Australia has got some people out there to step into the shoes that we're going to leave behind.

"It made a memorable Australia Day for me."