GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES REFORMS TO BY-LAWS AND SCHEME TERMINATION

It has taken almost three years now of consistent advocacy from consecutive Boards and SCA (Qld) staff but the Attorney General in conjunction with the Deputy Premier this morning released media information detailing the most significant changes to body corporate law in the state of Queensland for decades.

Scheme Termination

SCA (Qld) was pleased to see the announcement of a scheme termination threshold of 75% where the body corporate has agreed it is more financially viable for lot owners to terminate rather than maintain or remediate the scheme. The rights of minority owners will be protected but this opens up new development opportunities for ageing schemes, removes the need for expensive and protracted litigation and will play a key role in solving the Queensland housing crisis.

This follows agreement from virtually all stakeholders at the Queensland Housing Summit, at which SCA (Qld) General Manager Laura Bos represented SCA (Qld). We are pleased to see this long-term advocacy goal of SCA (Qld) being realised.

By-Law change – Smoking and Pets

Significant changes to by-laws have also been announced. Specifically, Government has announced that there will be specific changes to protect residents against second hand smoke by empowering schemes to ban smoking in outdoor areas and common property.

Clarity will be given on specific circumstances where pets can be banned, otherwise allowing pets as a right in schemes. This sort of certainty will be welcomed by members who spend significant time trying to negotiate the current framework.

Vehicle Towing

Bodies corporate will also be empowered to tow vehicles which are hazardous or preventing access.
There will also be changes to body corporate governance to expand the powers of adjudicators.

You can read the media release of the Attorney-General here.

SCA (Qld) has been advocating for these reforms for some time. General Manager Laura Bos has featured in extensive media coverage today and we will continue to advocate for members to Government, the public and the media. If you have an advocacy issue you want addressed, please do not hesitate to contact us at advocacy.qld@strata.community

This article was contributed by SCA (Qld)