Owners issue 10-point election manifesto

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The Owners Corporation Network (OCN) announced this week that they plan to be actively involved in the NSW state election, potentially tapping into the voting power of NSW’s one million-plus strata residents.

With that in mind, they have now issued their 10-point manifesto and are calling for strata owners’ support in promoting policies that can become part of the debate heading for the state elections next year.

The following message and call to action come from OCN Executive Officer Karen Stiles:

The 25 March 2023 NSW State election is a significant opportunity to achieve better policy outcomes for you and our strata sector.

Your Owners Corporation Network will be advocating for a Better Residential Strata Future across ten key issues. In essence we are seeking climate ready, resilient and empowered communities living in defect-free buildings.

I have summarised the ten issues below, and you can download OCN’s full NSW Policy Program here.

We would welcome a letter expressing your support of our NSW Policy Program. Your letter will help to enhance our advocacy by demonstrating the passion of our members.

Our NSW policy program is focussed on the following ten key issues and a series of recommended actions that we believe will start to create a Better Strata Residential Future.

  1. Appropriate for such a significant sector in NSW where 1 in 5 people live, we deserve a Senior experienced Minister to safeguard our interests and lead the necessary reform program – and so our first issue is for Government to Appoint a Senior Minister.
  2. Strata is complicated and unique. Being placed in the department of Fair Trading with smaller interests is not serving us well. We deserve a dedicated specialist department to serve our interests. And that also applies to Adjudication and Mediation services – dedicated strata bodies;
  3. Strata Law is changing rapidly and the requirements on OCs are becoming more complex. Unfortunately, beyond a few web pages, there is no comprehensive education being provided. That’s the issue and we are asking for an ongoing and comprehensive sector wide education program to be delivered to Strata Owners, Residents, Prospective purchasers and tenants, and Strata Managers.
  4. As a large sector effective consultation and engagement across the sector is complicated. Fortunately, over the last 20 years OCN has provided strong representation. But we could do more. We are unashamedly asking government to start funding OCN to Empower consumer representation and the provision of data and insights;
  5. All of our buildings and our dwellings will be operating with Net Zero emissions by 2050 – many well before that date. We know how to get to Net Zero – but it requires Government policy, targets, education and incentives. We are recommending a number of practical actions to get us on the journey, including a requirement that all new buildings from 2030 are built to be healthy, resilient and to operate with Net Zero Emissions. Fundamentally though we need a Government Plan for Net Zero emissions;
  6. We believe that Electrification will be the best and lowest cost way to get to Net Zero Emissions. That includes embedding electric vehicles into the solution – both for their recharge and for the opportunity for the building to use the batteries-on-wheels in load optimisation – once this technology becomes available. We are asking for State government to work with OCN in the development of guidelines and knowledge and later a significant program to support the upgrades – to Accelerate the electrification of strata buildings and adoption of Electric Vehicles;
  7. Having been through the early years of the Pandemic we know that we could be better prepared for future emergencies and disasters. That’s why we are asking for a tailored resilience and emergency planning guideline and support for strata owners to Ensure emergency preparedness
  8. Despite several notable wins over the last few years there is still much more required in legislation to protect consumers. We have outlined a number of key actions to be included as Government Update legislation to protect consumers;
  9. &10. And finally, with our last two issues we are advocating for the continued and in some cases expanded work of the Building Commissioner and his leadership of the Building Reform Program. However, we do want some improvements – in the scope and scale of initiatives and we deserve a full review next year on the effectiveness of the Program and on what else should be included to ensure a complete transformation of the development industry to: Ensure all new buildings are defect free and to Resolve all major defects in existing buildings.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:
To help our campaign, please email a letter expressing your support of our NSW Policy Program. If you have specific examples that provide further background to the issues and recommended actions, please summarise these in your letter.

Please send your supporting letter in the next week to OCN at: admin@ocn.org.au

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  • #66186
    Jimmy-T
    Keymaster

      The Owners Corporation Network (OCN) announced this week that they plan to be actively involved in the NSW state election, potentially tapping into th
      [See the full post at: Owners issue 10-point election manifesto]

      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.
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    • #66278
      David Ng
      Flatchatter

        Would be great if strata living was taken seriously by politicians; and the developers, management companies were brought to heel.

        A real building warranty. and no building managers with ties to builders getting lucrative contracts. And abolish embedded networks where there is a restriction of choice for owners.

        Let’s hope the OCN gets some traction and that it spreads throughout the country.

        And some real powers to rid residential buildings of ‘short -term letting’ would be very welcome. At the very least to allow the OC to have a true picture of which apartments are being used for short-term letting and authority to immediately expel miscreants and punish the owner with punitive penalties for repeated misbehaviour.

        Maybe there needs to be an indication on for sale advertisements of how many apartments in the building are available for short-term letting? When residential owners see the value of the property falling then they’ll demand action.

        • This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by .
        #66288
        Jimmy-T
        Keymaster
        Chat-starter

          The idea of identifying blocks that allow or don’t allow short-term lets is very interesting.  As well as flushing out the by-law-dodgers, it might focus OC’s thoughts on whether they want a by-law or not.  But bear in mind, the by-law option is only available to strata schemes in greater Sydney and, even then, restrictions only apply to non-resident owners.

          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.
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