Question: Our common property CCTV recorded the actions of a resident. A committee member circulated the recording to other owners. Should the body corporate committee records be distributed like this?
Our body corporate recently installed CCTV in our building’s entrance foyer and basement. A resident acted in an unusual manner, though nothing criminal or offensive. The CCTV recorded the behaviour. A committee member circulated the CCTV recording to a number of other owners, causing embarrassment to the resident.
Can the committee member do this? Are there any regulations governing the storage, viewing, access or circulation of electronic images? Should the body corporate committee records be catalogued and stored in a certain way?
Answer: While there are strata elements, there are also potential privacy aspects.
This is a tricky one. While there are strata elements, there are also potential privacy aspects – on which I am absolutely not an expert – and some aspects of human behaviour to consider.
On the strata side: footage from CCTV installed on common property is generally accepted to be a body corporate record. This, in turn, means it is accessible to an ‘interested person’. An owner is an interested person. That said, there is a process to request and obtain records.
There is nothing in the body corporate legislation about what I’d term ‘proactive’ distribution of a body corporate record in the manner you describe. So in one sense, what the committee members have allegedly done is not prohibited under strata legislation. Whether they should have done it at all is, of course, a whole other issue. There is a code of conduct for committee members. Have their actions contravened it? Maybe have a look at it and draw your own conclusions: Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997
On the privacy side of things, you might like to contact the Office of the Information Commissioner for further information.
The resident in question might also like to seek legal advice about whether they have any remedies at law to pursue here.
This then leaves us with the question of human behaviour. Personally, I’d be very keen to know why the committee members allegedly did this. If it is merely for their own enjoyment, then perhaps it is time to consider if they should continue to be on the committee. Committee members can be removed by ordinary resolution at a general meeting. You may want to start having some discussions with other owners about this situation: if it has happened to one resident, then who is to say it might not happen again, to others?
This is general information only and not legal advice.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
Leave a Reply