Without contacting police, what could be done on a strata level? If anything?
It always amuses me when people ask a question (as they often do) with the added provision that we don’t go down one potentially effective route to resolve their issue. It’s a bit like “how can I take a bus to work without using public transport.”
But seriously, strata law and strata scheme by-laws involve a level of mutual agreement about behaviour. If you go through the strata Act there are very few rules and regulations that have penalties attached for non-compliance.
Taking at random the law about committee members declaring that they have a potential conflict of interest, there is no penalty if they don’t. The decisions on which they vote stand, unless an owner goes through the rigmarole of challenging them at NCAT (within 28 days, I think) and can prove there would have been a different outcome. And even then …
Strata laws generally map out a template of behaviour that we are expected to follow and only in very rare cases can we expect any kind of sanction if we don’t.
For instance, our by-laws can say don’t park on common property. But there is no penalty attached, apart from the general potential penalties for breaching by-laws which, again, must be pursued at NCAT.
The point I’m trying to make here is that strata law can only do so much. In the great totem pole of legislation, strata law is right at the bottom and we know this because it says that you can’t pass a by-law that would supersede any other law.
Thus, for instance, you can’t pass a by-law that would clamp illegally parked cars because that’s forbidden by other laws not specifically related to strata schemes.
So what can you do about a resident who harasses you or the other members of your committee. The simplest answer is to look for solutions in superior laws to strata laws and, in the case of continueed harassment and abuse, ask your local court or even the police to issue an Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO).
That may sound extreme but the terms of an APVO include threats, stalking, harassment and intimidation and specifically apply to the actions of neighbours.
The other option is to hold a committee meeting to decide what to do next about this resident (is he or she a tenant, as per your headline?), laying out the issues and canvassing your options such as taking out an APVO, spending money on legal action to get some kind of restraining order, seeking mediation or installing increased access security and surveillance to restrict and record their movements within the building (the threat of spending money is the easiest way to galavanise owners into action).
Presented with a detailed motion you might get the resident to agree to back off rather than face the public humiliation of being exposed in this way.
And if you are worried about defamation, it has recently been established in the Supreme Court that strata residents, not just committees, have considerable leeway when it comes to naming people whom they are accusing of bad behaviour. As long as it’s not purely malicious and has an element of truth, you are ususually OK (although you might want to check that with a lawyer).