Queensland legislative update

Queensland legislative update

1 May 2022. A legislative update on Queensland’s property and strata laws, by Gary Bugden, Partner in Brisbane.

Covid relief provisions now expired

Unless further extended, the Queensland COVID-19 Emergency Relief provisions will expire on 30 April 2022, after which community title management procedures will return to their original form. There has been no indication from the Government that they will be extended and therefore, they are expected to expire.

Home Warranty Insurance Scheme

The Queensland Government has called for submissions on a proposal to extend the Home Warranty Insurance Scheme to buildings which exceed the current 3 storey limit. This is not expected to have any impact on the day-to-day management of schemes, or the technology they use.

Changes to QLD’s body corporate laws

The Working Group set up by the Department of Justice and Attorney General to consider and recommend changes arising from the legislative review undertaken by the Commercial and Property Law Research Centre of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) continues to meet. The Department recently advertised for a Policy Officer to be appointed to work exclusively with that Group. It seems clear that the Department intends to progress substantial changes to the Queensland legislation, some of which are likely to affect body corporate management companies and their software providers. However, the timing for those changes is not clear, particularly given the lengthy period of prior reviews and the poor outcomes achieved by them. Draft amendments are unlikely to eventuate until the end of this year, although a further Discussion Paper may well be issued within the next few months.