Don’t Panic: the Property Services Expert Panel is Here
But, what are they actually going to do for strata stakeholders …
What we need to help strata consumers is a panel of non-consumer experts to solve their problems [no-one ever said]. So, is the new Property Services Expert Panel in NSW the exception to the rule?
There’s some potentially great news for strata and the wider property sector consumers and stakeholders in New South Wales.
The New South Wales government has just formed the Property Services Expert Panel.
According to reporting by Real Estate Business, it’s the brainchild of the NSW Liberals and Nationals as ‘a new voice for our real estate sector’ according to the NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson.
Plus, the inaugural panel chair has said the following about the things the new panel will do and achieve:
‘consumers will be winners of a real estate regulation overhaul’,
‘giving property consumers and stakeholders a new and louder voice will be his number one priority, and
that it will recommend ‘what needs to be done to get the balance right between consumers and construction and those who work in property services’.
This sounds pretty good to me and I genuinely hope it happens. But, I’m a cynic.
The devil is in the details
I’d like to be able to provide more details about the Property Services Expert Panel in this article but I can’t find too much out about it apart from some news in the real estate industry press that all says pretty much the same stuff.
There’s no website or Linkedin page for the panel. And, it doesn’t appear to be created under any legislation or by any departmental authorities.
Plus, there isn’t even a press release from the NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson about it.
So, I can’t find out basics such as:
whether the panel has a charter, mission statement, or set of guidelines,
when and how often the panel will meet,
whether panel meetings, deliberations, and initiatives will be published [and if so, where],
who the panel reports to in the NSW Government, how and how often, and
how to raise issues for the panel’s consideration and action.
Hopefully, that’s all coming and we’ll see it soon. If I learn more from my enquiries, I’ll update this article.
Those things are particularly relevant now too since there’s a strata law reform process currently underway in New South Wales that includes issues about strata manager work, responsibilities, and regulation as well as broader strata title consumer and stakeholder issues. These would be excellent matters for the new panel to work on throughout 2021 and beyond.
On the face of it the Property Services Expert Panel appears to be comprised of representatives of the businesses that are regulated under the Property Stock & Business Agents Act 2002; real estate agents, strata managing agents, and stock & station agents.
Jimmy Thompson from Flat Chat [who may be even more cynical than me] has queried why a panel that is supposed to be helping consumers doesn’t have any strata or other property services consumers on it. That’s a fair question.
All of this makes me wonder if the Property Services Expert Panel is really about furthering real estate agents’, strata managers’, and property stock & station agents’ interests and not so much for the consumers of those services.
I hope I’m proven wrong about that.
The expert members of the panel
The appointees to the inaugural Property Services Expert Panel are as follows.
[I’ve also included their Linkedin profiles too so strata and other consumers/stakeholders can communicate their interests directly to these experts].
Chair
Chris Duggan, Strata Community Association (NSW)
Panel Members
Sadhana Smiles, Real Estate Industry Partners
David Ferraz, Australian Institute of Business Brokers
Trevor Rawnsley, Australian Resident Accommodation Manager’s Association
Sasha Boe, Real Estate Training Solutions
Peter Baldwin, Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association
Bryan Wilcox, Real Estate Employers Federation
Michael Wright, Australian Wool and Pastoral Agency
Sylvia Cortez, Estate Agents Co-operative
John Gilmovich, Property Owners Association
I’ll be writing to each of the panel members to find out what issues are on their agendas to benefit strata consumers and stakeholders and to make some suggestions of my own for things the panel could address.
Why don’t you do so too?
April 09, 2021
Francesco ...