Whale is correct and apologies for the “selfies” comment. It was meant as a joke and then I allowed myself to be sidetracked by the “privacy” discussion.
If you and other owners are sufficiently concerned and intimidated, I suggest you get together and pay for a consultation with a strata lawyer.
However, individuals and groups can achieve a lot by working out what your areas of concerns are – and I mean crunching down to the most obvious cases of mismanagement and not getting involved in ti-for-tat “he did this so I want that” arguments. Then you have three clear avenues.
1. Go to the EC and/or strata manager and say what your concerns are (and why) and ask what they are going to do about it.
2. Go to the owners and ask the same question – they have the power to sack the whole EC and strata manager, if you get the numbers.
3. Go to Fair Trading and NCAT and ask for orders to rectify the situation – or even for the strata manager to be replaced.
But before you do anything, I would advise you to take the SCA’s online strata committee course (which is free) just to let you know what’s right and what’s wrong.
And have a look around this website – but be warned; it is the nature of the beast that we occasionally drift into “ifs and ands” “what-ifs” and other forms of Bush Lawyerism (and I am moere guilty than most). Stick to the facts and if you think you need legal advice, ask a specialised strata lawyer (not just your family solicitor).