What steps do I take to have it removed? What if the person refuses? Do I contact the Strata Manager and see of approval was granted? If not, where to next?
First check that permission hasn’t been granted then check your by-laws to see if there is anything specific about attaching stuff to or damaging common property. If there is, ask the committee or strata manager (or both) to issue a Notice To Comply. This is an official warning that has teeth – if the miscreant doesn’t comply, they can be taken straight to NCAT (mediation not required) and fined. By the way, no prior warning needs to be given. A Notice To Comply is a warning.
If there is no by-law that specifically covers this kind of thing, then the committee, the strata manager or even you individually can take action under section 108 of the Act. This would require compulsory mediation at Fair Trading followed, if necessary, by seeking orders at NCAT. Failure to comply with the orders could lead to financial penalties and costs of the action could also be sought.
Or, you could ask the strata manager to tell the resident to remove it and, if they failed to do so within a reasonable time, get a tradie remove the camera, hand it back to the resident along with a bill for repair of common property damaged in the process. Yes, they could claim that the camera was damaged but to whom?
The latter would be my solution. Make it their problem not yours. People who play by the rules only when it suits them should realise that cuts both ways.