This article introduces NSW strata and community title legislative changes.
This is part one of a series of six bite sized blogs on the changes to our NSW strata and community title legislation this year. I will be posting a blog a week for the next six weeks each discussing a different component of the changes.
Before I talk about the latest changes, those in the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 which was assented to on 2 March 2025, it would be remiss not to first summarise the changes, which unless otherwise stated below, took effect on 3 February 2025 under the Strata Schemes Managing Agent Legislation Amendment Act 2024. These were that strata managers:
- must, when seeking approval at general meeting to accept training, commissions and gifts, provide in writing the amount of commission and how it is calculated, the value or estimated value of the training and their relationship with the provider together with a statement that accepting the training, commission or gift will not breach their duty under schedule 1, clause 11 of the Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2022 relating to conflicts of interest: s57(3A & 3B) Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) (“SSMA”);
- must disclose in writing before entering contracts to supply goods and services, if the contract involves commissions or training services to be provided to the strata manager or if the contractor is a person connected with the managing agent. Similar details must be provided as for s57 discussed above. It is retrospective, in that if the manager becomes connected with the original owner or a person providing goods and services to the scheme within the past 12 months, they must disclose these details and their relationship.
- Under these changes the scheme and now the Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Customer Service (“Commissioner”) may make an application that the strata manager pay the commission of value of training services to the Owners Corporation (this last change took effect on 8 November 2024): s60 SSMA
- must (along with building managers) also disclose if they have a connection with a person who “routinely supplies goods or services” to other schemes they manage or the person gave them advice, whether under a formal contract or otherwise to the original owner in the past two years about the strata plan or another strata or community plan: s71 SSMA;
- must obtain three insurance quotations that are broken down to detail the commission amount, its percentage of the base premium (and who receives it), the brokers fee and base premium and provide with a statement of whether the person providing the quotation is connected with the managing agent. These details must be provided as soon as practicable: s166(2) & (3) SSMA.
In addition to the previous definition of a connected person in s7 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, a person under the changes is now also connected with another person if the first person is a trustee of a trust for which the first person is a beneficiary or where the first person is the trustee of a trust where the second person or their spouse, de facto partner or child is a beneficiary: s62(1A) of the Strata Schemes Management Regulations 2016.
Penalties for the offences have increased across the board and took effect on 8 November 2024.
Although references are made throughout to changes to the SSMA, these changes also affect the Community Land Management Act 2021 (NSW) (“CLMA”).
Allison Benson Kerin Benson Lawyers E: allison@kerinbensonlawyers.com.au P: 02 4032 7990
This is general information and should not be considered to be legal advice. You should obtain legal advice specific to your individual situation.
This post appears in Strata News #737.
This article has been republished with permission from the author and first appeared on the Thoughts from a Strata Lawyer… website.
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Read next:- NSW: New NSW Strata Laws Commence in 2025
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