Hi Tim,
Welcome to my world.
Kaindub is correct: action by an owner under the SSM Act at NCAT can only be against the OC or committee members. Or the OC and committee members.
Jimmy is correct when he implies that under the contract offered by an OC to an agent, the latter is immunised against alleged breaches of the SSM Act inasmuch as such breaches would be held by NCAT to be committed by the OC. This of course gives rise to a related question – not asked by you but pertinent to your case and that of others in the same boat – which is: why are those owners who nominated and/or approved hiring such a manger not automatically on the hook for the appalling outcomes of their decision to hire him? In many cases the approval at a general meeting to hire a manager is not unanimous.
I suggest you do as I did, when I had an issue with a strata mgr doing the bidding of the committee in violation of his duties under the act under which he is licensed: the Property & Stock Agents Act.
Make a formal online complaint to Fair Trading about the agent and pony up evidence how you believe he breached the Property & Stock Agents Act. You can do this as an owner. You don’t need others to join you nor do you need a general meeting to get this ball rolling.
If FT agree that your complaint is reasonable, they will contact the agent and if needed, investigate. One outcome is that their investigation will prove your allegation(s) and if so, FT will tell him that they found him to be “non compliant” with the relevant legislation.
The fly in this ointment is that FT does not have to tell you, the complainant, what sanctions/penalties/directives/instructions they issued/levied on him.
If you’re lucky, you’ll have the outcome I had: (1) FT investigated; (2) FT informed the agent that in their view his behaviour was “not compliant”; (3) FT told me that they found the agent “non compliant”; and (4) quick as a wink the strata manager resigned and we had to find a new manager.