Key developments
- Strata Commissions Review
- Definition of a ‘terrorist act’ in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)
- Evaluation of amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)
- Inquiry into Competition Reforms in Electronic Conveyancing – Supplementary Questions
- Inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system
- Guidance Note for the Legal Profession on Client Legal Privilege and Federal Regulators
Strata Commissions Review
The Property Law and Business Law Committees contributed to a submission to the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission (‘Commission’), in response to public consultation on an issues paper titled Strata Commissions Review: Assessing the market impacts of payments to strata managers. The Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading asked the Commission to review the market impacts of prohibiting strata managing agents from accepting commissions or other conflicting payments. The issues paper considers three options: self-regulation imposing a ban on insurance commissions, prohibiting strata managing agents accepting commissions, or prohibiting strata managers buying goods and services involving commissions.
We supported prohibiting NSW strata managing agents accepting commissions as the most appropriate and effective means of addressing the issue. This option will apply to all strata managers irrespective of whether they are members of an industry association. Importantly, compliance and enforcement will be supported by the resources of NSW Fair Trading and build upon existing frameworks for penalties and disciplinary action.
