“Is this legal ? Can a unit owner be charged for contacting the strata manager directly ?”
Of course they can’t. Anyone can contact a strata manager directly. It’s up to the SM to decide if the matter should be referred to the committee.
They could try billing you any charge that the SM charges the OC to handle the matter. But that wouldn’t survive if challenged at VCAT. The SM’s fees are subject to a contract been the SM and the OC, not a contract between the SM and lot owners. OCs are actually limited in what they can charge a lot owner. Basically it’s levies and legislated late interest. Anything else is subject to VCAT approval although that doesn’t stop some OCs/SMs from trying.
Some details are here:
“Note: An owners corporation cannot charge a lot owner any other fees or charges, such as an ‘administration fee’, for overdue owners corporation fees.
Further, an owners corporation manager cannot require a lot owner to pay any fees due to the manager under the contract.”