Legislative Wrap-Up 2022: Strata schemes required to disclose more

On 30 June 2022, new regulations under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) were written in through the Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Information) Regulation 2021 (NSW) (the Regulations). The Regulations impose a number of new reporting requirements that owners’ corporations must follow.

In summary, strata schemes must ensure the following requirements are adhered to.

    • Pursuant to s 43 of the Regulations, owner’s corporations are required to provide information specified under s 43A annually. Section 43A details the kind of information to be disclosed to in the public annual report. The list is extensive, which includes details from the date of registration of the strata scheme, to information regarding building and safety inspection.
    • Owners’ corporations must help cover the cost of administration and enforcement of the scheme by payment of a lodgement fee of $3 per lot with their annual report.
    • Owners’ corporations must submit their first report within three months from 30 June 2022 to 30 September 2022.
    • Owners’ corporations are required to upload their report online through the Strata Hub. We note that if owners’ corporations do not provide their annual report within the allotted time from 2022 onwards, they may be fined a maximum of $5,500.

The new reporting requirements under s 43A are detailed, and perhaps intrusive. However, the intention of the new regulations are to create public transparency for strata schemes in NSW.