More protection for strata residents

Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch has welcomed the passage through the NSW Parliament of legislation improving the way strata communities operate.

The new legislation will ensure increased transparency and accountability for community members living in the more than 4,000 strata schemes across the Central Coast.

Reforms will help owners repair and maintain common property, support the uptake of sustainability and accessibility infrastructure, and give owners more options to pay levies when facing financial stress.

“These reforms are a significant step forward in strengthening accountability, improving governance, and ensuring that residents are better supported, particularly those experiencing financial hardship or living with a disability,” Tesch said.

“Having access to safe and accessible common property areas is incredibly important, and these reforms will ensure that owners’ corporations meet their obligation to repair and maintain these common areas.”

This legislation is the State Government’s third tranche of strata law reforms and builds on changes which came into effect on February 3, requiring strata managers in NSW to provide significantly more detailed information to owners’ corporations about their services and relationships, to increase transparency and accountability within the strata sector.

Strata managers must now disclose any connections with suppliers and developers, provide detailed breakdowns of insurance quotes including commissions and broker fees, and report in real time if any new connections or interests arise.

The reforms will be enforced by a dedicated Strata and Property Services Taskforce within NSW Fair Trading, backed by an $8.4M investment.

Consumer confidence in strata is vital to the government’s housing agenda, and the Taskforce will be focused on high impact initiatives to support the 1.2 million people living in strata across NSW.

The Taskforce will also strengthen compliance and enforcement, accessibility upgrade processes, dispute resolution, and regulatory reform within the strata sector, with a focus on raising professional standards and delivering better outcomes for consumers.

“These new protections will reassure property owners that the Minns Labor Government is committed to increasing transparency and uplifting enforcement in the strata sector,” Tesch said.