This article is about conflicts of interest and the disclosure requirement for a strata manager regarding benefits in Queensland.
Question: Can the committee ask our strata manager to disclose any benefits and/or referrals they receive from the caretakers? We have concerns about a potential conflicts of interest.
Our strata manager looks after multiple schemes for the same caretakers. Can the committee ask our strata manager for full disclosure of any benefits and/or referrals they receive from the owners of the management rights (caretakers)?
The committee feels the relationship may be compromising the strata manager’s objectivity. How can we address these concerns respectfully and constructively?
Answer: There are disclosure requirements for the body corporate manager mandated by law and ‘other’ disclosure requirements.
Yes, ask away. First, you might look at this excellent resource about disclosures from the Commissioner’s Office – it could address a few queries. Remember, there are disclosure requirements mandated by law, and then ‘other’ disclosure requirements: namely, things that an entity is not legally obliged to tell you, although perhaps they really should, sometimes referred to as ‘the pub test‘.
Having said that, let me put on my old public servant hat for a moment. In the public sector, I was always taught that you never embark on an enquiry or ask a question you do not know the answer to. In your case, what happens if you get no response to your query, regardless of how politely you put it? Or you get an antagonistic response? Or a response that tells you only half the story? Or a completely fulsome response – what then? Is that of itself going to make things better all of a sudden?
To put it another way: perhaps consider if asking about ‘disclosure’ is what you need here, or do you need some other approach to cut through the challenges. Perhaps you need something like mediation, dispute resolution, negotiation or a good old-fashioned discussion.
This is general information only and not legal advice. And lest anyone think otherwise, I am not here to defend any one group or stakeholder. I’m here to offer what I think is the optimal perspective.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
This post appears in the October 2024 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
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