NSW Fair Trading: What more could we do to help strata and community schemes?

NSW Fair Trading provides a number of important services to strata and community schemes. Rod Stowe looks at ways these services could be improved.

As the main regulator NSW Fair Trading plays an important role in the management of strata and community schemes. We take over 30,000 calls and receive hundreds of letters each year from people seeking information and advice. With many more schemes to be built in the coming years the demand for our services will only continue to grow.

Strata Living is one of our most popular publications and we have a wide range of other information available on our website. The educational seminars we conduct across NSW are also well attended and well received.

50 years of strata title in NSW

Strata and community schemes have come a long way since the first scheme was registered 50 years ago. Des Mooney looks at ideas to help shape the next 50 years.

2011 marks the 50th anniversary of strata legislation in NSW. That makes it a good time to think about what might happen in the next 50 years and whether our current strata and community scheme laws will remain relevant.

LPI administers the state’s land title system and registers strata and community plans. When the first strata Act was introduced it gave unit owners a secure form of ownership for their asset. The original strata subdivisions were relatively simple, involving the division of a vertical apartment block into lots, with the rest of the building being common property.

Strata and Community Scheme Laws: Making NSW number one again

New South Wales was the birthplace of strata and community scheme laws. Minister for Fair Trading Anthony Roberts wants to see the NSW laws number one again.

Community Housing regulation: Have your say

Housing Ministers across Australia agreed to a blueprint for a National Regulatory System for community housing providers.

The proposed system seeks to introduce nationally consistent regulatory arrangements to promote the growth of the community housing sector nationally.

The new system will aim to improve tenant outcomes and protect vulnerable tenants, protect government funding and equity in the sector, and enhance investor and partner confidence.

Please make a public submission or comment on the system design or learn more about the system, which is expected to begin in 2013, at www.nrsch.gov.au.

 

National Regulatory Reform Survey with the Queensland Office for Regulatory Efficiency: Extended Background

Open Forum is currently hosting a SURVEY on behalf of the Queensland Office for Regulatory Efficiency, Queensland Government. This article provides an extended background.

Talk Openly: Indigenous e-Health Forum with special guest blogger, The Hon. Tony Abbott

The Hon. Tony Abbott MHR, Federal Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, was our guest blogger in a forum on the potential benefits of e-Health practices for Australia’s remote Indigenous communities.

Measures to start addressing affordable rental housing

It is now widely accepted that Australia has a huge housing affordability problem. Indeed, rarely a day goes by in the media without discussion of house prices, interest rates, first home buyers, and the lack of affordability.

WA Housing Roundtable

This is a sector that has been in crisis for so long that the word barely holds meaning; people simply should not have to work under this kind of stress and official neglect.

Many Faces to the Housing Crisis

The Government should allocate more resources towards the provision of public and community housing as a matter of urgency. Unfortunately, that's a much harder sell to the electorate than the First Home Buyers Grant.

Great News for Home Buyers and the Economy

The doubling of the First Home Owners Grant and the tripling of the grant for those building new homes are expected to provide an immediate stimulus for new housing and help restore business confidence across the sector.

A tax for everything

If we want to encourage more people to enter the housing market, there needs to be some incentive for them to do so.

EXCLUSIVE: Question & Answer with Tony Abbott

In an effort to facilitate a higher level of consultation between our community and decision makers, we are planning a number of "Question & Answer" sessions with Australia's key thought leaders. Our first guest is The Hon. Tony Abbott MHR, former Federal Minister for Health and Ageing. Here are his thoughts on the national health care reform, hospital crisis, electronic health records, community consultation, and more.