{"id":643382,"date":"2026-05-01T19:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/643382\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T19:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:41:24","slug":"inquiry-recommendations-for-strata-management-in-canberra-include-licences-for-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/643382\/","title":{"rendered":"Inquiry recommendations for strata management in Canberra include licences for workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"

A probe into strata management in Canberra has recommended those working in the industry become licensed and be forced to disclose conflicts of interest and commissions.<\/p>\n

The ACT Legislative Assembly inquiry has also recommended the ACT government establish a strata commissioner, who could handle disputes before they are escalated to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.<\/p>\n

The committee made 33 recommendations, with its report highlighting concerns raised by residents, including strata managers receiving “kick-backs” from insurers.<\/p>\n

“I have noticed that a lot of insurance companies are very close and almost in bed with strata managers. They sponsor conferences \u2026 There is strata manager of the year, which is sponsored by an insurance company,” resident Helen Goddard told the committee.<\/p>\n

“I feel very uncomfortable about those sorts of things,” she added.<\/p>\n

Strata management inquiry recommendations:Establishing a strata commissioner to handle disputes and potentially issue penaltiesMandatory licences for strata managers\u00a0Training requirements for executive committees\u00a0Forcing strata managers to disclose conflicts of interest and commissionsNo-cause termination of contracts with strata managersAllow rental tenants to attend annual general meetingsForcing real estate advertising to disclose strata levies and special levies’We were bullied’<\/p>\n

Anne Cahill Lambert and her partner downsized to an apartment complex six years ago that has had a number of building defects, including incorrectly installed balustrades.<\/p>\n

\"Anne<\/p>\n

Anne Cahill Lambert says battling developers and strata managers over building defects has been frustrating. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)<\/p>\n

“We were bullied into letting these things go on the basis that ‘they’re all the same in this building’. We are idiots. Our experience over the last nearly five years highlights many shortcomings in relation to strata management in the ACT,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The apartment we purchased was newly built and we therefore expected few, if any, problems as we were the first owners.”<\/p>\n

Ms Cahill Lambert, who advocated for the inquiry and made a submission, said she hoped the recommendations would “really put some sunlight” on the issues in strata management.<\/p>\n

“This is terribly important because there are so many shonks out there,” she said.<\/p>\n

She particularly welcomed the recommendation of a strata commissioner.<\/p>\n

“It’ll stop people from having to go down a legal route \u2026 it’ll bring some sense and concentration into what should be happening in strata land,” Ms Cahill Lambert said.<\/p>\n

‘Needs to be made simple if it’s to be workable’\"A<\/p>\n

Susan Proctor of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers says she is hopeful a strata commissioner will be introduced soon. (ABC News: Toby Hunt)<\/p>\n

Susan Proctor of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers said introducing further regulations for strata managers would not be as effective as having a commissioner to enforce regulations.<\/p>\n

“Regulation already exists for strata managers within the Agents Act and the Unit Title Management Act,” Ms Proctor said.<\/p>\n

“The issue is that Access Canberra itself, from time to time, doesn’t understand how that operates with respect to strata managers.<\/p>\n

“If we are going to keep producing more and more strata, we have to get it right for the end consumer.<\/p>\n

“Nobody understands strata very well because it’s very complex. It needs to be made simple if it’s to be workable and sustainable for our community.”<\/p>\n

An ACT government spokesperson said it was considering the recommendations and would respond in due course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A probe into strata management in Canberra has recommended those working in the industry become licensed and be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-643382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}