More than 1.2 million people live in strata in NSW. The NSW Government wants to introduce new annual reporting to better meet strata communities' needs and improve consumer protection.
Owners corporations would need to report and verify information each year on the NSW Government’s Strata Hub. This digital portal will centralise strata information, which is currently hard to find or unavailable.
We have drafted a proposed Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Information) Regulation. It outlines the information to be reported, who can access it, the costs and the start date.
We want to hear from people who live, own, rent, work or want to invest in strata and councils and other strata stakeholders.
Earlier this year, we consulted broadly on what people want from a Strata Hub. Once fully implemented, the hub will offer up-to-date strata information, provide key data on how schemes are being managed, and make communication easier.
New regulation asks strata schemes to provide key information
The information to be reported includes key details about the strata scheme and some building, safety and management information.
A strata managing agent can also report on behalf of the owners corporation. Reporting will take a tell us once approach, supported by pre-filled information where possible. For more details, refer to the:
- Explanatory Paper
- Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Information) Regulation 2021 (the Information Regulation).
Thank you for your feedback
This engagement is now closed. Thank you to participants who provided input. Your feedback will help ensure the regulation meets the needs of NSW strata communities.
Survey response report now available
More than 570 people completed the online survey on ‘New annual reporting for strata schemes’ between 18 October and 29 November 2021. The NSW Government has analysed the survey feedback and the key findings are presented in this summary report.
Please sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date with information on strata and community schemes. For more information on strata scheme reporting, visit the NSW Government strata web page.
If you have any questions after reading the materials and the FAQs, please email the Strata Policy team.
FAQs
This strata scheme reporting information will be pre-filled (where available) on the Strata Hub. Either the strata managing agent (if your scheme has one) or the owners corporation secretary can confirm the pre-filled data and enter any other required information.
Even if you have a strata managing agent, the owners corporation secretary can choose to submit this information for their scheme.
You can find most basic information about your scheme for free on the NSW Land Registry Services (LRS) website
(External link). To start your search, enter your property details. You can search either by lot and plan details or address.
Some information, such as the date of your most recent AGM, purposes of your scheme, and contact details for representatives are not held by LRS. You will need to provide this information from your owners corporation records.
| Strata reporting requirements | Where can I source this information? |
|---|---|
| These fields will be pre-filled, where possible. |
| To be supplied by the owners corporation secretary or strata managing agent. |
| May be available on the NABERS website(External link) or contact nabers@environment.nsw.gov.au(External link) |
| This information can be sourced from the most recent AGM and the supporting financial statements. |
| This is information from owners corporation records. |
Information held on the Strata Hub will have robust privacy and security measures in place including user verification. There will be different levels of access for the different types of information on the Strata Hub. Strata schemes will report the following information annually:
| Full list of information proposed for annual reporting | ||
|---|---|---|
| To be publicly disclosed | Only disclosed to people in the strata scheme | Not to be publicly disclosed |
| Strata plan number, and when the strata scheme was originally registered | Contact details for the owners corporation secretary, and strata managing agent and building manager (if any) | Any NABERS ratings for the scheme's buildings |
| Strata scheme's address, number of lots, and what they are used for | The date of issue for the latest Annual Fire Safety Statement | The date of issue for interim and final occupation certificate(s) |
| Whether the strata scheme is part of a larger community or precinct scheme | The insured replacement value for the strata scheme | |
| When the most recent annual general meeting (AGM) was held | Whether the scheme has formed a strata renewal committee | The balance of the scheme's Capital Works Fund (on last financial statement required for AGM) |
| For apartment buildings, how many storeys they have above ground |
This information may also be shared with other regulatory authorities, local councils and emergency services. For example, in cases where NSW Fire and Rescue or Ambulance services can’t get into a building, they may contact the secretary or building manager to request access.
Information collected on the Strata Hub will also be subject to the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 which means the Department of Customer Service may be required by law to release certain information.
Generally, information will only need to be updated as part of each strata scheme’s annual reporting cycle. However, if any information relating to your scheme changes in between annual reporting, it must be updated within 28 days.
The information will be submitted on the Strata Hub which is a custom-built online platform designed to be user-friendly and meet the needs of strata communities. We aim to streamline the reporting process by providing pre-populated information, where possible. Your scheme will need to then check that this information is correct. Other information can be sourced from your scheme’s records and the most recent annual general meeting (AGM) documents.
In the following years, after the scheme first does its annual reporting, many of the reporting requirement fields will remain the same and will only need to be verified on the Strata Hub. For example, basic information about the scheme (e.g. strata plan number, address, number of lots) and information about the building (e.g. how many storeys, date of the interim and final occupation certificates).
Yes. The Strata Hub is being delivered in phases. In July 2021, the digitised Strata Building Bond and Inspections Scheme was launched as part of the first phase.
This consultation is to support the next phase by proposing reporting requirements for the 83,000 plus strata schemes across NSW. These changes will increase transparency and accountability in the sector by providing up-to-date data on how schemes are being run, while also making communication easier and quicker.
No. It’s proposed that all the 83,000 plus strata schemes in NSW report on basic information to ensure the Strata Hub can deliver up-to-date data insights. Comprehensive and robust data will help drive improvements to people’s experience of strata living and confidence to invest in strata.
Strata Hub users can expect that we will treat any information they provide in line with the NSW Government’s privacy responsibilities and obligations. The NSW Government is bound by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
The Regulation also proposes legal restrictions on who can access certain information. Users who access restricted information will have to go through a verification and authentication process.
We have previously asked for feedback on what the Strata Hub could ultimately look like, how it could reduce pain points and benefit everyone in strata. The Easier access to strata information consultation closed in April 2021 and was followed by a series of nine independently facilitated focus groups involving strata owners & residents, property professionals, local government, legal professionals, emergency services and utilities. These insights are being used to inform how we build the Strata Hub platform.
This consultation is about proposed changes to strata laws that will enable key information and contact details about NSW strata schemes to be reported annually on the Strata Hub.
The proposed changes will mean that all owners corporations will have to report on the name, phone number and email of their secretary and their strata managing agent and building manager (if they have either or both of those).
They can choose to provide personal or professional contact details. For example, they may choose an email address or phone number that is only associated with their role in the scheme. No one else in the scheme will need to report their contact details.
Contact details will only be visible on the Strata Hub to people who own, live or work with a given scheme.
The Strata Hub will provide more transparency across all strata schemes in NSW. Benefits for strata communities include:
- easier access to basic information, such as contact details so they can get issues resolved and things done quicker
- confidence that certain building safety and strata scheme management metrics are being reported regularly
- receiving targeted community service communications in the event of an emergency or public health crisis in their area.
Information held on the Strata Hub will have robust privacy and security measures in place including user verification.
It is proposed that each strata scheme pays a fee of $3 per lot to cover the development and administration costs of the Strata Hub. This will be paid once a year when submitting the scheme’s annual reporting requirements.
An annual fee of $3 per lot will help fund the development and ongoing maintenance of the Strata Hub community portal. The Strata Hub is being developed in response to clear community feedback calling for a centralised source of strata information.
The Strata Hub provides people buying, living and working in strata with:
- a central point for strata schemes to report key information each year, which will enable vital community and emergency services communications
- a range of education resources and information to support strata communities
- access to the digitised Strata Building Bond & Inspections Scheme (SBBIS) for newly constructed strata developments to identify and fix early building defects.
Owners corporations that do not comply with the annual reporting requirements may be fined up to a maximum of $5,500. Owners corporations that do not update their information following a change may also be fined a maximum of $2,200.
Strata Hub users can expect that we will treat information they provide in line with the NSW Government’s privacy responsibilities and obligations. The NSW Government’s privacy practices are regulated by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998(External link) (NSW).
Strata information to be reported will be available based on user access levels. For details, see the response to the third question in this list: 'What information will be on the Strata Hub? Who will have access to it?'
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