@JimmyT said:
Below is the content of an email from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in response to this question:Recently we have encountered a situation whereby an owner in a strata complex in NSW sent an email out to other owners in the same strata complex, disputing the contents of an official email sent out by the secretary.
On the email, the authors alerted fellow owners to the existence of a website addressing strata issues within the owners corporation (body corporate).
Subsequent emails carried a prominent “remove” option which some owners used and their names were immediately removed from the mailing list.
The executive committee are saying that the original email (and subsequent emails, even with the “remove” option) was illegal and a breach of privacy because permission had only been given by owners to the committee for their communications.
The alleged offenders are saying that the communication was within the owners corporation (of which all owners are members by default) and since all contact details of the Owners are available to other owners by law, then no breach has occurred.
What’s your take on this?
This is what the OAIC replied:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (the OAIC) regulates the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act) which sets out the manner in which Australian, ACT and Norfolk Island government agencies, and many private sector organisations, handle personal information.
The Act does not cover the actions of individuals acting in a personal capacity. This means as information is being handled by a person (the property owner) that is doing so for their own purposes, and not in the course of their employment duties, this matter would not be covered by the Act.
I hope this information has been useful. If you have any further enquiries, please contact the OAIC Enquiries line on 1300 363 992.
There you go – more proof that you can’t dress up Executive Committee secrecy and call it privacy. That’s a win for the good guys.
Interesting to read, thanks.
In my strata plan, the secretary has decided to pass & register a by-law for correspondence. This by law now states that all matters are to be emailed only to the secretary and not to any other owner unless that owner has given their permission to recieve emails from that owner.
This is made more complex as all the properties are rentals and no owner actually lives at the property.
Can someone pass a by law that is in effect, working outside of the strata plan?
I have been unable to find any laws that restrict communication between people in the form of emails.
It’s bound to go to a tribunal with breaches made already and threats from the paranoid secretary are now circulating.