When Strata Owners Vote
Influencing politics in favour of strata buildings & strata owners interests ...
Despite their number, wealth, and ability to coordinate and act collectively, strata owners have not been effectively represented in politics and government all around Australia. Why is that? Here’s an overview of the experiences so far and some ideas for the future.
[8.0 minutes estimated reading time, 1608 words]
Introduction
Strata owner are a significant group that according to the latest UNSW City Future Centre Data include almost 2.9 million strata owners and even more other strata stakeholders when you include strata renters and businesses and workers in strata buildings. Plus, they have many common or shared interests in their ownership and use of strata properties.
So, if they voted consistently or lobbied collectively, they could achieve a lot politically and with the government to further those interests. And, they could present a credible [and hard to dismiss] alternative view to the lobbying efforts of developers, builders, banks, and insurers on issues that have adversely affected them in the past.
But, they don’t and mostly haven’t done so in the past.
And, even if strata owners were politically motivated and mobilised, it might be more challenging than they imagine.
In this article, I explore the pattern of political action in the strata title sector we’re seen so far and how strata owners could secure more and better political influence.
There’s a vacuum at the government policy level
I’ve been critical of the lack of policy development and information in relation to strata title laws and other laws that affect strata stakeholders.
Existing state governments don’t have clear or any policy agendas focused on the strata title sector. And, if they have it’s hard to find.
Political parties also don’t have clear or any policy agendas focused on the strata title sector.
I wrote about this in some detail in relation to the current NSW strata law reforms in the article ‘Strata Reforms [NSW] Update 1: Policy considerations & objectives’ and, sadly, the position isn’t much different in other states.
So, I don’t political think help for strata owners is coming soon.
Ministerial influencing
In fact, most of the changes we’ve seen to strata laws that aren’t part of a routine and mandated legislative review have come from lobby groups or active individuals getting access to the relevant ministers to focus them on issues that interest them and/or to lobby them over their strata hobby horse/s.
I did exactly that myself in 2005 when I tried [unsuccessfully] to stop the new strata laws requiring NSW strata buildings to approve all legal action and work at owners meeting [as I’ve written about in the article ‘Why are Strata Buildings' Legal Rights Being Restricted?’ and, ultimately managed to get some exemptions for strata levy recovery actions and legal work under a costs threshold. It was essentially me, some professional lobbyist, and the minister negotiating an outcome.
But, that’s not an ideal way to help strata owners or the strata title sector as it is:
a bit ad hoc and random,
personality-driven [by both the personality of the Minister at the time and the influencer],
it’s poorly targeted as Ministers change pretty frequently in the strata title portfolio, and
like so much of what happens in strata law reforms change is based on small-scale issues that become hotspots rather than being based on any policy, research of widespread considerations.
So, that’s not really that useful or good for strata owners collectively.
Political parties and one-off interested ministers
What about the political parties or individual parliamentarians that have a genuine interest in strata owners’ issues?
There once was an NSW Strata Party [sort of] in 2015 that had a few aligned candidates and strata-focused policies. But it didn’t get enough votes to be represented in the parliament and is now defunct. So much so that all I can point you to is a Flat Chat article from 2015 that discusses it called ‘For whom should strata building residents vote at the 2015 state election?’.
I also know that one NSW state parliamentarian, Alex Greenwich, takes an interest from time to time in strata building issues as his webpage about the ‘Strata Hub’ idea demonstrates.
There may be more politicians like this or if you are one of them or know one of them, please let me know.
And, finally, on at least the pets in strata issue, the Animal Justice Party has taken a pro pet position
So, perhaps getting some individual politicians interested in strata owners’ issues could be useful.
Advocacy associations and groups [old and new]
There have been and continue to be a few strata owner interest groups advocating for or about strata owner interests.
In the 1970s there was a relatively powerful strata owners political action group in Sydney called the St George Home Owners Association that lobbied and influenced the government. It even managed to get mentioned in the NSW Parliament’s second reading speech when the groundbreaking Strata Titles Act 1973 was passed into law.
But, over the decades its membership number fell, the remaining members lost energy, its influence dwindled, and, it eventually ceased to exist in about 2005.
Since then, there’s been series of Owners Corporation Network groups created by strata owners for strata owners as follows.
There’s the Owners Corporation Network of Australia that’s based in Sydney and offers membership to both strata owners and strata buildings and undertakes political influencing activities.
And, there’s the Owners Corporation Network of the Australian Capital Territory that also offers membership to both strata owners and strata buildings that does the same thing, but only in the ACT.
In Victoria, there’s been a series of similar groups called the Owners’ Corporation Network Victoria (OCNV), the Metropolitan Owners Corporation Committee Association (MOCCA), and the Southbank Owners’ Corporations Network (SOCN) but I’ve only been able to find one of their websites and an article about them in CBD News in 2020 called ‘Skilling Owners Corporations’.
I don’t really know the link or difference between those owners’ groups. But, I’d be interested to learn more if anyone can tell me.
There are also similar, but unaffiliated, groups in some states like the Dockland Community News which was once a strata owners’ action group that has morphed into a news and information site.
There is also an NSW strata owners’ chapter [which I created in 2007] of the nationally affiliated association for strata managers and service providers, the Strata Community Association, and other states Strata Community Association affiliates variously allow strata owner participation.
But, this isn’t real strata owner representation as the Strata Owners Chapter and strata owner members in Strata Community Australia have no power, and the Strata Community Australia’s political agenda is ultimately subservient to the interests of strata managers who run the organisation. And, those interests are not the same and, in some cases, contrary to strata building and strata owners’ best interests.
Finally, there are a few strata owner help forums that are interactive and raise awareness of strata owners issues like:
Flat Chat run by Jimmy Thomson, and
Your Strata Property, run by Amanda Farmer.
Ultimately though, as helpful and popular as those forums and their websites and podcasts are, they are commercial business operations that exist to make money [which is fine] off the shortage of strata owner information, help, and attention by selling their services, subscriptions to their sites, and/or, sponsorship.
A new strata action group in WA
I was actually prompted to write this article when I noticed and contacted a new strata action group that’s emerged and appears to be doing things a bit differently and with more energy in Western Australia and nationally.
That’s the Australian Apartment Advocacy run by Samantha Reece.
It’s doing the usual range of things that everyone’s doing, including publishing information, promoting strata issues, and lobbying. But it has also done a few new and fresh things as follows:
Undertook a National Apartment Living Survey [now closed] with the results to be presented in Melbourne on 8 June 2021.
Created and published a Western Australian strata policy position.
Created and is promoting a policy for a repatriation fund for strata buildings with defects.
So, I’ll be watching what the Australian Apartment Advocacy continues to do and recommend you do too,
A vision for a [brighter] strata owner future
So, let’s imagine what a brighter political future for strata owners in Australia might look like.
I think it would involve the following elements:
A non-profit group supported by tens of thousands of small individual donations, non-commercialised fundraising, and government funding.
National operation with coordinated state-based resources and activities.
Paid staff and volunteers.
Surveys, polls, and other feedback sessions of strata owners, members, donators, and other strata stakeholders to determine the public opinion on topical issues.
Development of ‘strata owners’ policy objectives’ that are repeated, reinforced, and re-developed over time.
Research on policy issues to support strata owners’ interests.
Lobbying work with governments and other influential groups across the country to re-enforce policies and effect change.
Publicity activities to bring attention to strata issues, anomalies in the laws, better policy positions, changes, and the group itself.
Social media activities to attract new supporters or members, etc.
Targeted political action at state elections in marginal electorates to get candidates [and their parties] to take on strata owners’ change agenda.
If there was such a national and organised group we might not be facing the terrible strata owner outcomes were seeing in the strata title sector on building defects, with the Mascot Towers debacle, over long-term lock-in contracts in new strata buildings, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Is there anyone out there that thinks the same and wants to do something about it?
May 24, 2021
Francesco ...