QLD: Q&A Couriers, Mail and Parcel Delivery to an Apartment

This Q&A is about parcel delivery in QLD. Due to limitations at our apartment complex, couriers don’t know how to deliver my parcels and the building manager will not help.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: Our mailboxes were removed and residents’ delivery of mail and parcels is not secure. Is the body corporate obliged to secure residents’ mail?
• QUESTION: I am an owner resident in an apartment on the Gold Coast. What are the rules of management opening resident’s letter boxes if parcels don’t fit through the letter slot?
• QUESTION: Our intercom system is broken. Couriers don’t know how to deliver parcels to my Gold Coast apartment and the Complex Manager will not assist.

Question: Our mailboxes were removed and residents’ delivery of mail and parcels is not secure. Is the body corporate obliged to secure residents’ mail?

Is the body corporate obliged to secure residents’ mail?

A previous committee removed the resident’s mailboxes. During office hours, mail and parcels are left with the Building Manager. After hours, mail and parcels are left in an unlocked box on the sidewalk, accessible by anyone. I’ve requested the committee and caretaker either put a secure lock on the box or provide a better system. The committee refuse to answer.

Answer: If you’re an owner, you have a right to submit a motion to the committee.

The only legislated responsibility in relation to mail is found in section 183(1) of the Standard Module (equivalent provisions of other Modules), reproduced below:

183 Mailbox and noticeboard

1. The body corporate must—
   
   1. maintain a mailbox clearly showing the body corporate’s name in a suitable position at or near the street alignment of the scheme land; or
   2. make suitable alternative arrangements for the receipt of mail.

There is nothing here about ‘secure’ mail, although perhaps you could argue ‘suitable alternative arrangements’ may include securing mail.

The receipt of mail may be covered by the agreement between the management rights holder (aka, building manager) and the body corporate, although equally, the agreement may not cover it at all. Each agreement is different, so you’d need to check. I have lived in bodies corporate where the management rights holder had specific obligations about the mail, but I also know of other bodies corporate where the opposite is true.

You say you have asked for a lock to be placed on the box or for it to be removed. The decision-maker here is the committee (or even possibly a meeting of all owners), not the management rights holder. If you’re an owner, you have a right to submit a motion to the committee and if it is refused, or there is no response in a set time period (usually six weeks), you have the right to dispute the decision (or non-decision in this case) through the Commissioner’s Office. If you are an occupier (aka, tenant), you can also dispute things in the Commissioner’s Office, although you may want to firstly engage with your landlord or property manager to see if they can facilitate an outcome for you.

This is general information only and not legal advice.

Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898

This post appears in the June 2024 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.

Question: I am an owner resident in an apartment on the Gold Coast. What are the rules of management opening resident’s letter boxes if parcels don’t fit through the letter slot?

Answer: remind the managers of this and advise that they can be reported to the police if they continue the practice.

Opening someone else’s mail without their consent could be considered mail tampering and classed as a criminal offence.

The matter is covered by the Telecommunications and Postal Services Act. Here’s a link to an article discussing this: Is It Legal to Open Someone Else’s Mail? (Australia).

As a first step, you might remind the managers of this and advise that they can be reported to the police if they continue the practice.

They may choose to limit the ways they handle the mail as a result, but that is surely better than the current situation.

Beyond this, mail management is a growing issue at many body corporates. We all get more and more parcels delivered, but it is not always easy to get direct access to a unit or property if no one is home.

Of course, the parcels can be taken back by the post or courier for collection at a later date but if the instruction is to leave them at site that can create a problem – it’s not a good thing to have parcels pile up at the entrance or hallways of a unit block.

If you have onsite managers, they may be happy to receive them and pass them on – although this poses some risk if the item is damaged when opened as they may be accused of it being broken while in the manager’s care.

Solutions will vary from building to building so maybe it is something to raise with the committee to see if a system can be put in place that can allow for easier management.

William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924

This post appears in Strata News #606.

Question: Our intercom system is broken. Couriers don’t know how to deliver parcels to my Gold Coast apartment and the Complex Manager will not assist.

I own a townhouse in a resort complex on the Gold Coast.

The letterboxes are on the inside of the secure gated complex. The Complex Manager owns the PBAX system that operates the intercom system to contact owners via the gate.

I have been told that the PABX system does not work and that no one can contact me via the intercom system. This is creating a lot of difficulties for me to receive any parcels that are delivered to my property. Couriers don’t know how to deliver parcels to my apartmnent.

When a parcel arrives via Australia Post the Complex Property Manager tells them they can not leave the parcel and turns them away, even if I am at home. Australia Post has advised me that they are not allowed to make mobile phone calls to let me know that they are at the property and they have a parcel for delivery to my apartment. They must use the intercom to contact me directly so I can collect the parcels. Can anything be done about this?

Answer: The Complex Manager is not a concierge.

Normally things like PABX etc are what is considered utility infrastructure and owned by the body corporate. If the wiring (or whatever it is) was fixed the problem goes away. The default position is that unless there is some form of paperwork where the obligations were passed to the manager it does reside with the body corporate.

After that, the manager is not a concierge. It is not their job to provide services to owners for purposes like this. They also are usually not there to collect parcels and the like unless they agree to do it gratuitously.

Frank Higginson
Hynes Legal
E: frank.higginson@hyneslegal.com.au
P: 07 3193 0500

This post appears in Strata News #269.

Have a question about parcel delivery at your apartment building or a resident or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

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