An owner can request the item under s108 but that costs and it should only be necessary if the EC was refusing to be transparent. There is no real reason to withhold such information.
If the EC are not transparent enough to give you a copy, or post the monthly financial report on the noticeboard with the minutes of the meeting, then they are not a good EC.
The EC is under no obligation to hand out incoming correspondence, which may be what the EC classify the report as, but they cannot hide it in a s108 search so you should ask that the monthly report be attached to the minutes or you will consider making a s108 search and obtain them that way.
One search should get you well over a years worth of the report in the hour you will have and it will be a process that the agent will try to avoid in the future i.e. the agent would likely rather see you get a copy than bother them with a s108 search in future.
You, potentially, could amend the agents responsibilities and duties to include sending the monthly report to all owners or attaching any such report to the minutes.
If it is a small block then this will not see any significant extra cost, especially if it can be sent electronically.
There is no requirement, I can recall, to send the monthly financial reports to owners but no real reason to withhold them if an owner wants a copy.
If you are a small block then it seems excessive to get monthly reports – does the OC do a lot of transactions per month? If not consider cutting back on the reports (try quarterly) and save a few bucks.
SSMR 2010 FEES
9) For making records available for inspection under section 108 of the Act $30 and an additional $15 for each half-hour or part of half-hour after the first hour of inspection.
SSMA s108 Inspection of records of owners corporation
(1) Who may inspect records?
An owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee of a lot, or a person authorised by the owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee, may request the owners corporation to allow an inspection to be carried out under this section.
(2) Form of request
The request must be in writing and be accompanied by the fee prescribed by the regulations.
(3) Items to be made available for inspection
The owners corporation must make the following items available for inspection by the person who makes the request or the person’s agent:
(a) the strata roll,
(b) any records or documents required to be kept under Division 2,
(c) the plans, specifications, certificates, diagrams and other documents required to be delivered to the owners corporation at its first annual general meeting by the original owner or lessor,
(d) if in its custody or under its control, the certificate of title comprising the common property or, in the case of a leasehold strata scheme, the certificate of title for the lease of the common property,
(e) the last financial statements prepared,
(f) every current policy of insurance taken out by the owners corporation and the receipt for the premium last paid for each such policy,
(g) any other record or document in the custody or under the control of the owners corporation,
(h) if the duties of the owners corporation under this subsection have been delegated to a strata managing agent, such other records (including records of the strata managing agent) relating to the strata scheme as may be prescribed by the regulations,
(i) if a caretaker agreement is in force or has been entered into but has not yet commenced, a copy of the caretaker agreement.