In my 21 things about the new laws article, I said strata managers couldn’t be elected to committees unless they were owner.  This was a slip of the mind – I should have said BUILDING managers – a big difference.

My humble apologies if anyone was misled.

Meanwhile, it’s worth looking at other potential conflicts of interest.  If committee member has a direct or indirect financial interest in a decision that is being made – and the regulations state that an indirect interest means having a personal or business relationship with anyone who has a direct financial interest in a decision – they have to declare it, then absent themselves while a decision is made by the rest of the committee on whether or not they are allowed to participate in the discussion and vote.

This is what the Act says:

18 Disclosure of pecuniary interests
(1) If:
(a) a member of a strata committee has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter being considered or about to be considered at a meeting, and
(b) the interest appears to raise a conflict with the proper performance of the member’s duties in relation to the consideration of the matter, the member must, as soon as possible after the relevant facts have come to the member’s knowledge, disclose the nature of the interest at a meeting of the strata committee.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
(2) A disclosure by a member at a meeting of the strata committee that the member:
(a) is a member, or is in the employment, of a specified corporation or other body, or
(b) is a partner, or is in the employment, of a specified person, or
(c) has some other specified interest relating to a specified corporation or other body or to a specified person,
is a sufficient disclosure of the nature of the interest in any matter relating to that corporation or other body or to that person which may arise after the date of the disclosure and which is required to be disclosed under subclause (1).
(3) Particulars of any disclosure made under this clause must be recorded by the strata committee in a book kept for the purpose and that book must be open at all reasonable hours to inspection by any person on payment of the fee determined by the strata committee.
(4) After a member has disclosed the nature of an interest in any matter, the member must not, unless the strata committee otherwise determines:
(a) be present during any deliberation of the strata committee with respect to the matter, or
(b) take part in any decision of the strata committee with respect to the matter.
(5) For the purposes of the making of a determination by the strata committee under subclause (4), a member who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter to which the disclosure relates must not:
(a) be present during any deliberation of the strata committee for the purpose of making the determination, or
(b) take part in the making by the strata committee of the determination.
(6) A contravention of this clause does not invalidate any decision of the strata
committee.
(7) Without limiting subclause (1), a person has an indirect pecuniary interest in a matter if a person connected with the person has a direct interest in the matter.