Question: Our renewal contract still mentions insurance commission. If the NSW government does ban commissions, would we get a refund?
What is happening with insurance commissions in NSW? Our strata management company’s renewal is due. We notice their new contract still includes insurance commission. If we sign the contract and insurance commissions are banned, do we get the commission rebated?
Answer: No, insurance commissions haven’t been banned in NSW, but disclosure rules have tightened.
Insurance commissions have not been banned in NSW. The legislative changes that commenced in February 2025 introduced greater transparency around insurance remuneration, rather than prohibiting commissions.
There is, however, an important change. Under the Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2022, a strata management agreement cannot entitle a strata manager to receive an insurance commission where the owners corporation obtains the insurance quotes and arranges the insurance without the strata manager’s assistance.
If your strata manager assists with arranging the insurance, commissions may still be payable, subject to the terms of the management agreement and the required disclosures.
If you sign the agreement now and the law changes in the future to prohibit insurance commissions, you would not generally expect commissions already paid under a valid agreement to be refunded unless the legislation specifically provided for retrospective refunds, which would be unusual.
If your strata manager is an SCA (NSW) member, you may also wish to ask why the new agreement still refers to insurance commissions, as SCA (NSW) has adopted a commission-free model for its members. This is an industry initiative rather than a legislative requirement.
This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be personal advice on any particular matter. Shandit Pty Ltd T/as Strata Insurance Solutions strongly suggests that no person should act specifically on the basis of the information in this document, but should obtain appropriate professional advice based on their own personal circumstances and the specific coverage afforded under their policy wording. Shandit Pty Ltd T/As Strata Insurance Solutions is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 404246) of Insurance Advisernet Australia AFSL No 240549, ABN 15 003 886 687.
This post appears in the August 2026 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Tyrone Shandiman Strata Insurance Solutions E: tshandiman@iaa.net.au P: 1300 554 165
