Financial Hardship Reform: Protecting Vulnerable Owners or Creating New Risks for Owners Corporations
For years, the conversation around unpaid levies has been framed as a simple debt recovery issue. Owners Corporations levy fees, lot owners fail to pay, and recovery action follows. In practice, that approach has often prioritised enforcement over engagement, with recovery processes becoming entrenched before genuine attempts are made to understand the circumstances of the […]
From Product Defect to Building Defect: What Owners Corporations Should Learn from the Alucobond Decision
The Federal Court’s decision in Owners – Strata Plan No 87231 v 3A Composites GmbH (No 10) [2026] FCA 351 is one of the most significant cladding decisions delivered in Australia in recent years. At first glance, the case appears to be about combustible cladding. More specifically, it concerned claims brought against the manufacturers and […]
More Regulation, More Enforcement, More Compliance: Will the Owners Corporations Reforms Fix Governance?
The Victorian Government’s response to the statutory review of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) represents the most significant proposed overhaul of owners corporation governance since the legislation commenced almost two decades ago. The headline reforms have attracted considerable attention. Licensing of Owners Corporation managers. Expanded investigative and enforcement powers for Consumer Affairs Victoria. Increased […]
Victorian Owners Corporations Reform: Six Changes Every Committee Member Should Be Watching
The Victorian Government has now responded to the Expert Panel Review of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic), signalling significant changes for Owners Corporations, lot owners and managers across the state. While legislation is still to be drafted, the Government has accepted or supported many of the Panel’s recommendations. For committee members and lot owners, […]
Hybrid Loan Agreements in Strata Schemes: Why the Current Structure Does Not Work
Introduction There are strata financiers marketing a product known as “hybrid” loan – structures in which an owners corporation (OC) borrows money from both a commercial lender and from individual lot owners within the scheme, variously called “Lending Owners”, “Participating Lot Owners” or “Self Funding Owners”. In this article I will use the generic term […]
Engaging a Contractor in Queensland: What to Check before you sign
Engaging a contractor Engaging a contractor Unfortunately, it is a common occurrence for a client to come to us about a dodgy contractor. Typically, we see problems arise where a client engages an unlicensed, unqualified, or dishonest contractor that fails to carry out the work promised or the completed work turns out to be defective […]
The Legend of Atlantis – Management Rights Agreements can only be topped up once…
Content Just as Plato’s Atlantis sank beneath the waves, so too did an anti-management rights (legal) theory sink, albeit a lot more quietly, on 12 January 2026. Those ‘in the know’ had seen a paper in circulation over the last few years containing a theory that, in essence, the ‘right’ way to read the Body […]
Administrator’s Costs – How to Make the Responsible Party Pay
Content Imagine a four-lot community titles scheme having one owner of three lots, and another owner for the remaining lot. A dispute between the two lot owners develops, the Body Corporate falls into dysfunction and an Adjudicator appoints a general administrator to the body corporate to remedy that dysfunction. The majority (‘problem’) owner, hinders and […]
Culpability and Cost: Making Sense of Section 23A(3)(a)
Section 23A of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) (the Act) represents a clear shift in how strata communities manage financial accountability, particularly in situations involving damage, insurance claims, or increased premiums. At the heart of this reform is a simple principle: if a lot owner’s serious conduct causes loss to the Owners Corporation (OC), […]