Having your say – a review of the Strata and Community Title Laws
Strata living in New South Wales is set to change with the State Government currently preparing a discussion paper covering the points raised during the recent Strata Laws consultation. The Hon Anthony Roberts, says the new laws will be designed to meet the needs of strata dwellers for many generations to come.
I take this opportunity to express my thanks to everyone who participated in the online consultation on strata reform earlier this year. Since the forum closed, the Government has been working hard reading and considering the many comments made, and these are proving to be invaluable in our review of the laws.
Previously, I wrote about my wish to come up with a set of laws that will take us through the next 50 years and beyond. We are now a step closer to making this a reality.
The NSW strata laws have previously been adopted right around the world. We have extensively researched the contemporary laws in other places to see how they have tackled the problems we are experiencing here. We’ve also considered the many practical options suggested by the NSW strata community.
This wide-ranging approach and the in-depth consultation we are carrying out will result in a set of laws which will meet our current needs, as well as those of generations to come.
Over the last few months, we have been preparing a discussion paper to release for public consultation. It will be released in the near future. The paper covers a wide range of topics, from making and enforcing by-laws, maintaining common property, dealing with money and managing schemes, right through to the process for terminating a scheme that has run its course. Many of these issues were common themes in the forum.
The discussion paper will be open for comment for two months. During this time, the NSW Fair Trading website will act as a one-stop-shop, where you can fill out the easy on-line response form and register your details to be kept informed of progress throughout the review.
Once it comes out, the discussion paper will be circulated to everyone who contributed to the Strata Laws Consultation and Open Forum online community. I invite you all to send in your comments on the paper and I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you.
It is only by working together that we can make NSW number one again in this essential area.
The Hon Anthony Roberts MP is the NSW Minister for Fair Trading. Prior to becoming the Member for Lane Cove, he was Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Lane Cove Municipal Council. Anthony proudly served with the Australian Army on peace keeping operations in Bougainville as part of Operation Bel Isi. He was also an adviser to Prime Minister John Howard.