Overexposed strata chairs may hide from the Hub

Executive committees could be about to see a mass exodus of office-bearers as a new register of strata schemes takes effect in NSW next month, warn insiders.

Simply put, some chairs and secretaries of strata committees don’t want their neighbours to be able to contact them too easily.

They are doing unpaid voluntary work and if there is some sort of strife in the building (and when isn’t there?) they don’t want angry phone calls at all hours of the day and night or emails pestering them at work.

But, as discussed in last week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast, their preferred anonymity is about to be swept away – in NSW at least – when the state’s new strata information Hub fires up at the end of June.

The Hub is the brainchild of Services minister Victor Dominello, a former Fair Trading minister and a self-confessed data geek. 

Mr Dominello quite rightly thinks there are too many random unknowns in the state’s strata schemes and he doubtless dreams of a day when government agencies know exactly how many swimming pools, lifts, parking spaces and solar energy panels there are in strataland.

But until then there is a more modest proposal to collect information that some strata professionals fear will see experienced committee members resigning in droves while others are reluctant to replace them .

As of June 30, strata schemes will be required to register all sorts of details about themselves. Controversially, these will include the names, phone numbers and email addresses of the strata secretary, chairperson, strata manager, building manager and emergency contact (if there is one).

This information will be available to anyone listed on the strata roll, and that includes owners, rental agents and tenants, all of whom are required by law to be on the roll.

But, as discussed in this week’s podcast, it seems the government won’t be using notoriously unreliable strata rolls to identify renters who will have access to the information – they’ll be checking names against their own rental bond lists.

“In a building of 100 lots [the information] would be available conservatively to 500 people across owners and tenants. There is nothing to stop this information being passed on to others,” Lance O’Loughlin, a strata manager with Absolute Strata Management told Flat Chat. 

“It is hard enough getting volunteers as it stands. This is not going to help.”

The information that must be passed to the Hub, or risk hefty fines, also includes basic facts like the strata scheme’s number, its address, the number of lots it contains and what they are used for – residential, commercial, utilities or “others”.

Schemes will also to declare if and when occupation and fire safety certificates were issued, whether or not it has a NABERS sustainability rating and how many storeys above ground it is and its insured replacement value.

All of this information is valuable when the authorities are trying to build a picture of the nuts and bolts of the strata scene, ostensibly so they can plan for the future.

It also allows owners, tenants and agents to know where the block stands in terms of issues like documentation and sustainability. Investor owners, especially, will benefit from being able to contact the key players in their blocks directly.

But it’s the personal contact details for committee chairs and secretaries that has alarm bells ringing in some quarters.

Some strata committee office-bearers may feel that turning up to meetings and subjecting themselves to random, unfocussed complaints from angry residents is as much of their peace of mind as they are prepared to sacrifice.

Having their phone number and email address available to everyone who lives in or owns in the building will be a reach too far – or too close – for many.

For now, this is happening in NSW only but you can bet that it will spread to other states if the anticipated benefits to government ensue.

A version of this column first appeared in the Australian Financial Review.

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