› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Strata Committees › Can/should an OC be involved in neighbourhood issues? › Current Page
I don’t think it is a matter of whether a Committee has the legal right, perhaps it is more a matter of whether they are authorised to take a position or make submissions on behalf of the owners corporation as a whole.
Looking at the legislation and the functions of the OC set out in section 9 which are essentially delegated to the SC, I’m not sure that they do. However, you don’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face, and I agree with Jimmy that there are a number of instances where a submission by the Committee can be of great use, taking into account that many owners may not be aware of an issue or just can’t be bothered.
One way of dealing with this could be to put up a resolution at the AGM to authorise the SC to do that kind of thing, within certain parameters.
An interesting parallel is with the recent marriage debate, the Law Society of NSW issued a joint statement with the Bar Association and AMA NSW supporting a change to the Marriage Act. A number of members of the Law Society have called on the president to resign, because in their view the Council of the Law Society does not have the right to represent the views of its members on the issue. Even lawyers can get themselves in a knot about this type of thing.