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There’s nothing in the regs and very little in the privacy laws either (especially if you are only recording video and not sound).
Cameras could only be legally fitted via a by-law and that should have included your scheme’s own rules about who can view the vision and when.
That’s your point of attack, right there.
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It’s true that only the principle of a strata management firm is required to have a licence but all the actual strata managers should have some sort of training. That said, you can get a strata management certificate in less than a week.
I would let this go if I were you, unless you think they are harming the building or don’t have the requisite insurance coverage should something go wrong.
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Apply for mediation at Fair Trading with a view to seeking orders at NCAT under Section 232, requiring the Owners Corporation to fulfil its duties under the Act.
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Put a motion to your next committee meeting that they let everyone know where the cameras are, who has access to the feeds, whether or not you are being recorded and why they are there anyway.
If nothing else, it’s one way to get everything out in the open.
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Office-bearers are required by law but it may just mean that your strata manager is fulfilling those roles.
Under Section 95 (below), if your scheme has a turnover of more than $250,000 a year, an audit is mandatory. Otherwise you can get a simple majority at a general meeting to demand one.
95 Auditing of accounts and financial statements(1) The owners corporation for a large strata scheme, or a strata scheme for which the annual budget exceeds $250,000 (or another amount prescribed for the purposes of this section by the regulations), must ensure that the accounts and financial statements of the owners corporation are audited before presentation to the annual general meeting.
(2) The owners corporation for any other strata scheme may determine that the accounts and financial statements of the owners corporation are to be audited.
(3) An audit of the accounts and financial statements of an owners corporation under this section must be carried out in accordance with the Australian Auditing Standards.
(4) The regulations may specify the manner in which the annual budget of a strata scheme is to be determined for the purposes of this section.
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If the doorway is set IN common property (the wall) and is leading to common property (the balcony) then it’s common property … unless the building is pre-1974.
This is what the ‘Who’s Responsible’ guide says:
If the strata plan was registered before 1 July 1974 the balcony wall including the windows and door and their working parts are generally part of the lot and the lot owner’s responsibility for maintenance and repairs (unless there is a notation on the strata plan or the balconies are not shown on the strata plan).
If the plan was registered after 1 July 1974, the balcony wall including the windows and doors and their working parts are generally common property and the owners corporation’s responsibility (unless the strata plan says otherwise). With the exception to fly screens and/or security doors where they were installed by an owner after registration of the strata plan
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My reading of various parts of the Act is that, if it would be a radical change to the appearance of the common property, it would require a special resolution (75 per cent in favour) at a general meeting under section 108 (below)
If it’s just a bit of a spruce-up and the addition of a painting or two it could be passed by the committee.
108 Changes to common property(1) Procedure for authorising changes to common property
An owners corporation or an owner of a lot in a strata scheme may add to the common property, alter the common property or erect a new structure on common property for the purpose of improving or enhancing the common property.
(2) Any such action may be taken by the owners corporation or owner only if a special resolution has first been passed by the owners corporation that specifically authorises the taking of the particular action proposed.
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The Strata Committee can’t pass a by-law – that has to be done at a general meeting so you could be facing even more delays if they finally do hold their meeting and then tell you “oops, we can’t give this level of permission.”
Tell them you need to have a general meeting (at your expense) and if they can’t give you a firm date, ask for mediation at Fair Trading with a view to seeking orders under section 232.
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I don’t think you need a lawyer for this. A locksmith, perhaps.
The chair has given you evidence in writing and by her actions of her inability or unwillingness to do her job as defined by section 37 of the Act (below) as well as her disdain for decent behaviour in her determination to further her and only her interests.
Ask your committee to remove her as chair and if she continues to act up, either call a general meeting or apply to NCAT to have her removed from the committee.
If the rest of the committee refuses to support you, apply for mediation then orders at NCAT under section 238 to get orders to have the chair and her cronies removed.
37 DUTY OF MEMBERS OF STRATA COMMITTE
It is the duty of each member of a strata committee of an owners corporation to carry out his or her functions for the benefit, so far as practicable, of the owners corporation and with due care and diligence.
238 ORDERS RELATING TO STRATA COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS
(1) The Tribunal may, on its own motion or on application by an interested person, make any of the following orders:
(a) an order removing a person from a strata committee,
(b) an order prohibiting a strata committee from determining a specified matter and requiring the matter to be determined by resolution of the owners corporation,
(c) an order removing one or more of the officers of an owners corporation from office and from the strata committee.(2) Without limiting the grounds on which the Tribunal may order the removal from office of a person, the Tribunal may remove a person if it is satisfied that the person has:
(a) failed to comply with this Act or the regulations or the by-laws of the strata scheme, or
(b) failed to exercise due care and diligence, or engaged in serious misconduct, while holding the office.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Your previous post was only sent on Monday.
Whether or not you have used the correct Section reference depends on what you were seeking. But Section 232 is a catch-all provision for resolving disputes so you are probably on the right track
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Sadly I didn’t get the chance to raise this issue specifically with the NCAT member – she wasn’t looking at specific cases – but generally speaking, the Member appointed the compulsory strata manager and it is now their responsibility to act on behalf of the strata scheme.
That means that you now should start the process of mediation with the SM (who is now effectively the Owners Corp) and seek a binding agreement that they will start looking at necessary work to be done.
If you don’t get that, start proceedings at NCAT under section 232 seeking orders to compel the strata manager to get the work done.
I’m surprised that your compulsory SM is being uncooperative – didn’t you go in with them when you were seeking compulsory appointment? Or did NCAT make that decision and pull the name out of a hat?
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The by-law isn’t “null and void” but it may have been breached. Did it say that the commencement or resumption of work was contingent on council approvals? Or just that approval of the work was dependent on council DAs? If the latter, the rogue renovator could argue that all he or she was seeking was approval after the work had been done.
Any work that involves the reconfiguration of the rooms in an apartment requires council approval. My next call would be to the council’s planning department asking them to investigate. They can issue a ‘stop work’ notice if need be.
Failing that, you could apply directly to NCAT (no need to go to Fair Trading on this) for an interim order that all work cease until appropriate approvals have been granted. Go to this page to find the links to the necessary forms. You apply for an interim order under Section 231 of the Act.
If the rogue developer is smart, they will get the builder to say this is a complying development – which means no council involvement. Don’t fall for it and if they try it on, tell the builder you will report them (not the owner) to Fair Trading for fraudulent behaviour.
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The decision to formulate a generally available by-law template and post it on the OCN website was only made at the meeting on Saturday.
The principals involved want to make sure they have something watertight before they present it to their members. When they have, they’ll put it up and, hopefully, I will be able to pass that information on to Flat Chat readers.
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Mediation may well seem fruitless but if you don’t do it you can’t proceed to NCAT – it’s as simple as that. There are a few exceptions but this isn’t one of them.
However, once the committee see you are coming after them and not the lot owner, it may sharpen their thinking.
This is especially so if they are aware that once they are no longer acting in good faith – i.e. they are ignoring their duties of which they have been informed – then the members who voted to do nothing become personally liable for that decision.
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