Who receives the fee for providing a body corporate information certificate?

I am going to assume you are referring here to a body corporate information certificate as opposed to any other record or information.

The requirements for this certificate are provided for in Section 205(4) of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 – reproduced below:

4. The body corporate must, within 7 days after receiving a written request from an interested person accompanied by the fee prescribed under the regulation module applying to the scheme, issue a certificate (a body corporate information certificate) in the approved form applying to the scheme giving financial and other information about the lot.

You will note above that the ‘body corporate’ must provide the Certificate. Given this is a prescribed fee (i.e., a fee that the government sets), it would follow it is a fee that goes to the corporate body as payment for the ‘service’ of providing the Certificate. That said, the agreement between the body corporate and the body corporate manager may provide for the manager to be reimbursed for their time in providing this service on behalf of the body corporate.

As for your query about ‘gratis’, well I suppose it is feasible that most things in life could be provided gratis. The question would always be why it should be provided gratis. In this case, firstly, remember that the purpose of the Certificate is to add clarity to a proposed purchase of a lot. A business transaction, in other words. Such things do not typically come for free. Secondly, if you are asking if there are provisions for discounts or gratis for hardship, then the answer is no. The legislative section above is worded so that if the prescribed fee isn’t provided, the Certificate cannot be given. In other words, the fee is an inherent part of the request for the Certificate.

This is general information only and not legal advice.