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My EC appears to operate a closed shop.
I sought a list of owners within the complex with their contact tel No’s (as about 40% of occupants are renters).
The response was that it cannot be provided as it would breach the Privacy Act.
I find this a little hard to believe and suspect that the EC does not want an owner with an issue that may embarrass the EC to have others know about it.
Can anyone advise IF there is a problem with this information being provided to another owner?
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Hi there,
It is my understanding that strata cannot provide private information to other owners, so I suspect it would be the same with Executive Committee members giving out any contact details they may have. I know that in our units, contact details cannot be accessed from strata. We overcame it by asking at the AGM that people put their details on a contact list that was passed around. Owners had a choice then and some owners were clear that they did not want to provide contact details to another owner. One owner even stating that the reason they paid strata management fees was so that they were not bothered by other owners.
In NSW, s108 permits any owner to view a copy of the strata roll, which has the names and contact details of all owners. Familiarise yourself with s108, and then approach your strata manager.
[that’s Section 108 of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act … Whale – (Moderator)]
It’s their name and address for postal of notices only right?
Email, phone numbers or other ‘direct’ contact details are forbidden by the Privacy Act right?
@isydowner said:
It’s their name and address for postal of notices only right?Email, phone numbers or other ‘direct’ contact details are forbidden by the Privacy Act right?
Here is what the act says
98 What must be recorded in the strata roll?
(1) There must be recorded in the strata roll in relation to a particular lot:
(a) the owner’s name and an Australian address for service of notices or the name of the owner’s agent appointed in accordance with Part 3 of Chapter 4 and the agent’s Australian address for service of noticesBut a lot of SM include the phone no and email add (ours does) if they have been supplied you would need to view your Strata Roll to know if your SM does this or not.
Our SM supplies an electronic copy on request at no charge.
The line I got recently from our Strata Manager was: “Under the privacy Act you are not permitted to have a listing of the owner contacts and addresses”.
I have been told this is not true and is a notion peddled by Strata Managers, who think they know which side their bread is buttered on, to help protect their OWN turf; it’s not entirely for the benefit of the Executive Committee.
One may need to… hmmm… ‘discover’ the names and addresses though, when inspecting the records at the Strata Manager’s office and those records must contain the strata role under the NSW Act.
@Merrick N Sniper said:
The line I got recently from our Strata Manager was: “Under the privacy Act you are not permitted to have a listing of the owner contacts and addresses”.I have been told this is not true and is a notion peddled by Strata Managers, who think they know which side their bread is buttered on, to help protect their OWN turf; it’s not entirely for the benefit of the Executive Committee.
One may need to… hmmm… ‘discover’ the names and addresses though, when inspecting the records at the Strata Manager’s office and those records must contain the strata role under the NSW Act.
Ask the Strata Manager what section or provision of the Privacy restricts them from doing that. Its all about what purpose the data was collected for, and on the strata roll its to allow for owners to contact other owners.
It’s a bit more complex than that. The Privacy Act regulates the provision of personal information. Personal information is information that can identify someone and includes things like their address.
However – the Privacy Act regulates specified parties – this includes government agencies, businesses and not-for-profit organisations with a turnover of $3 million or more. Others who are covered by it include hospitals, pharmacies, childcare centres and credit providers.
Query whether an Owners Corporation is caught by the Privacy Act. A strata manager may be. Some organisations opt in to it.
Setting that to one side, the Strata Schemes Management Act provides that owners have a right of access to the strata roll – the list of owners with their addresses. That is what you are entitled to have. The Privacy Act is irrelevant. But you have no right to request their phone numbers or email addresses, because they don’t form part of the strata roll.
If notices are sent by email they are sent with the email addresses in the bcc address line, so no-one can see them. In large blocks you can also send a link to the notice on a website. So no email addresses are disclosed.
I can see why it can seem EC members are hiding, but the conduit for communications is the strata manager – that is their job. As an EC member I do not want emails or phone calls. In a building of 100 that would be a nightmare. In some cases where EC members really are running the property then it would be reasonable to require that their contact details be available.
“… but the conduit for communications is the strata manager” Scotlandx said and therein lies the problem at our place and I suspect many others.
My household has been without an Owners Corporation provided smoke alarm after ten weeks, eight emails and three calls since our 2008 model went bung. Our friend here waited five months to get guttering repaired which was backing-up and leaking into his ceiling!
If the strata manager is ‘the conduit’ ours needs to be taken-to with a large plunger. The EC says everything must be done through him; they are no help. The reason we want a list of owners and their contact details is as obvious as the reason SM doesn’t want to give it to us.
MNS – on the basis of your posts here and elsewhere on FlatChat it’s obvious that you (at least) have a problem with your Strata Manager’s performance.
So in advance of the next General Meeting where you and like-minded Owners could bring him to heel, have a look at the website maintained by the peak industry body, in particular peruse their constitution and code-of-ethics under the “members” tab, and then give them a call to see if your Strata Manager or his Company is a member.
Hopefully he or his Company is a member, and the industry body can be your “plunger”.
Well, cut off me legs and call me shorty, Whale, they are members. Who would have thought!
What do you suggest?
MNS – I edited your last post to avoid identifying who your strata managers are, but as neither their size or yours matters, my advice is is as before.
Contact Strata Community Australia NSW with your concerns and allow them to take up your case. If I’m any judge, I’ll bet that the Licensee of the Office that you’re dealing with doesn’t have the slightest clue about the difficulties that you’ve been experiencing with the individual Strata Manager concerned.
Thanks very much Whale, will give it a go.
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