I’m guessing that people have arrived at the building with washing machines from their previous homes and feel it would be a waste not to use them. Or there may be some illogical squeamishness about “sharing” laundry facilities.
In any case, these machines should not be there, especially as they are getting in the way. I would be sending out a polite note telling people that the laundry is common property and they are not permitted to leave anything there, including white goods.
Set a deadline for their removal and perhaps offer the numbers of a charity or a second-hand dealer who will take them off their hands. Failure to remove them means they will be treated as “abandoned goods” as defined by Section 32 of the Strata Regulations:
(1) This clause applies to goods left on common property (other than motor vehicles and things permitted by the owners corporation to remain on common property).
(2) The owners corporation may dispose of goods left on common property if:
(a) a disposal notice has been placed on or near the goods and the goods have not been removed from the common property within the period specified in the disposal notice, or
(b) they are perishable goods, or
(c) they consist only of rubbish.
(3) A disposal notice must:
(a) not be less than the size of an A4 piece of paper, and
(b) be placed in a position or be in a material so that the contents of the notice are not likely to be detrimentally affected by weather, and
(c) describe the goods and state the date and time the notice was issued, and
(d) state that the goods will be disposed of if they are not removed from the common property before the date and time specified in the notice (being not earlier than 5 days after the notice was placed on or near the goods), and
(e) specify contact details for a member of the strata committee, the strata managing agent or a delegate of the owners corporation in relation to the notice.
(4) If the goods are so placed that they block an entrance or exit, the owners corporation may move the goods to another place on the common property before placing a disposal notice on or near the goods, and for that purpose the owners corporation is taken to be the owner of the goods.
(5) The owners corporation may dispose of the goods by selling them or in any other lawful manner and for that purpose is taken to be the owner of the goods.
(6) A purchaser of goods sold by an owners corporation in accordance with this clause acquires a good title to the goods freed and discharged of any interest of any person who would otherwise have an interest in the goods.
(7) The proceeds of a sale of goods under this clause are to be paid to the administrative fund of the owners corporation.
(8) The owners corporation must make a record of goods sold under this clause and keep the record for a period of not less than 12 months after the disposal.
(9) The record must contain the following particulars:
(a) a description of the goods,
(b) the date of the sale,
(c) the name and address of the purchaser,
(d) if sold by auction, the address of the principal place of business of the auctioneer.
Obviously, if they are just left there, the easiest thing to do is give them to charity and then you don’t have the hassle of selling them, then giving the money (minus the costs of the sale) to the owner.