Question: Our committee recently published a ‘building contact list’ including my name and number. We’ve never permitted these details to be shared. Can the committee share personal information without permission?
I own a lot in a strata complex of 102 lots. My mother lives in the apartment. The committee published a list of all “residents” contact details (lot number and phone number). They obtained these details from the body corporate records.
I purchased my lot in 2016 and have never received a request from the committee or strata for my mother’s or my contact details to be published this way.
The committee updates the list regularly. Recently when they updated the list, my name and mobile number were included – even though my mother still resides in the lot and I am the owner.
I understand my details are listed on the body corporate roll and available to anyone who pays the fee to access the role. However, is the committee allowed to publish a list of all resident’s details without their explicit approval?
I asked the committee to remove my details immediately. I suggested they request permission from residents or provide an ‘opt-out’ for those who do not want their details publicly available.
The strata manager says the committee can do this. Are they correct?
Answer: Submit a motion to the committee (or indeed, to a general meeting) to have action taken.
Your query exists in a grey area. Note that I am only speaking here from a strata background and with strata expertise. I cannot comment on any privacy issues which may or may not apply. You should seek specific privacy advice from relevant government agencies.
As you rightly point out, your details on the roll are available to any ‘interested person’. That includes your details as an owner and details of any lease of six months or more. I assume the latter point would include your mother.
Queensland’s strata legislation is quite clear that the details on the roll are available, provided that the correct process to access has been taken. As far as I can see, the situation you describe – in which those details are proactively published – is not provided for at all. Playing devil’s advocate for a moment, the committee may argue that publishing details this way takes the concept of transparency to its ultimate end and that all details would be available to an interested party anyway. The flip side is, of course, your concern that neither you nor your mother agreed to this kind of publication and that, at the least, an interested party still has to go through a process and seek approval for the records they seek. Proactive publishing is very different to that.
The ‘opt-out’ scenario you describe is also in a grey area. Again, that is not expressly provided for, although it is arguable it would be reasonable for the committee to agree to do so on your request.
Assuming that you remain concerned about this situation, your option here would be to submit a motion to the committee (or indeed, to a general meeting) to have action taken – e.g., that the committee cease proactive publication (if you want to cast the net widely) or that the committee cease publication of yours and your mother’s details (if you want to keep it focused on your situation). As an owner, you have the right to submit motions. If your motions do not succeed, then you can dispute that through the Commissioner’s Office.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
Hello. Can the body corporate manager send a copy of a certain body corporate record to all owners for free without owner’s written request for a copy that specific record and payment of a fee?
I was told that the body corporate are not allowed to share any information about their discussions and plans etc with non-committee members other than when they attend a meeting. Is this correct? Also, is it correct that if a non-member emails one person on the body corporate in relation to an issue within the complex the body corporate are not allowed to share that non-members email address with anyone else? i.e other members of the committee or other residents of the complex.
Hi Kelly
We hope this helps answer your questions: Question: Is a committee member permitted to share financials with another lot owner as published to the committee by the strata manager?
Re drones.
A note was slipped under our door mid-afternoon saying the Body Corporate was conducting a audit of four balcony’s (out of 91 units) by drone at 10am the following day.
I immediately emailed the BC advising that this contravened the powers of entry as per our By Law notice of 24 hours which is in any case superseded by the Act which states seven days.
The BC did not respond & the drone inspection went ahead.
Is my position correct?
Hi Michael
The following response has been provided by William Marquand from Tower Body Corporate and Todd Garsden from Mahoneys:
Due to their relative newness and capacity to access areas that might once have been considered private drones often challenge laws around privacy and access.
For clarity on the technical legal position, we checked with Todd Garsden from Mahoneys who advised:
‘This will depend on whether the drone actually entered the lot.
Interestingly, the power to enter a lot only authorises a person to enter a lot. There is no ability to authorise a drone.
If the drone stayed on the common property it would not have trespassed into the lot. However, if it crossed into the lot (or exclusive use area) this would not have been properly authorised.’
So there may be an issue depending on the exact areas the drone flew over but we don’t know what those area were.
Otherwise, the body corporate seems to have been within its rights but probably should have provided greater notice. This isn’t always easy as works are sometimes arranged quickly and at least some warning was provided but ideally you would have know a bit further in advance.
Re Todd GARSDEN’s response to Q about e-mail communications between some but not all members of a committee.
For confirmation, have a look on http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/cases/qld/QBCCMCmr/ at Plantation at Rainbow Accommodation Scheme [2020] QBCCMCmr 533 (15 October 2020) per paras.[31] to [33].
Also, would suggest that you ask your Body Corporate Manager (BCM) for advice about this matter at a Committee Meeting. Most, if not all, BCMs would be on top of this stuff about right of access and would provide reliable and independent advice to your Committee, including the EXEC members. It would then be up to those EXEC members to clarify the nature of their communications.
How far you want to push this issue is really up to you and what value you place on your relationship with these EXEC members. Maybe they are just accustomed to running the show through their ‘kitchen cabinet’, or maybe they do not want you to know what they are discussing. Maybe they are trying to spare you the dross and clutter of the routine and mind-numbingly tedious minutiae. they encounter on a day to day basis.
My personal approach is that there are no secrets in body corporate matters, and if someone wants to know what is happening then share it with them.
As far as confidentiality goes, if there was committee correpsondence regarding an active legal case against a Lot Owner, would that be considered confidential? And if a committee member forwarded that information to the Lot Owner, would it be a violation of the committee Code of Conduct?
Instead of just asking as to whether or not body corporate managers need be copied in on all emails between a body corporate committee, it would help if the persons wanting to know such things included information as to why they need to know the answer, like for example, they may have a manager who – “in prying…err..trying it on” – is hoping to deviously-dupe body corporate committee members into believing that they must include body corporate managers in ALL correspondence else without such inclusion they won’t be able to manage things with aplomb.
Does the manager of complex have to be copied in on all emails between the body corporate committee?
We have responded to your comment on this post: QLD: Q&A Privacy and Correspondence within Body Corporates
The secretary is responsible for making available to owners any and all strata records on request.
If the SM is relied on to satisfy owner requests to inspect strata records it would be necessary for the SM to be provided with all strata records that the committee members created (including correspondence with each other or others about strata matters).
Failure to do so (ie withholding strata records from owners) is an offence.
How can you know that correspondence that is sent to the Body Corporate committee is accessible to other owners and/or future buyers and becomes part of the body corporate records. The secretary of our self-managed body corporate claims there are no body corporate records, even though as a unit owner I have sent correspondence to the committee that has never been responded to. I would love to know that there is a process in place which makes that correspondence and committee meeting minutes etc available for others to view as part of the body corporate records. If a secretary claims there are no records, what can we do? The fact that there is never any response to any communication sent to the committee is frustrating at best, infuriating mostly. Unfortunately the other owners in this small scheme have no interest int he complex or what the committee does/or does not do. Thank you.
What you can do is promptly get your State Administrative Tribunal involved to find out why no records exist by setting a trap for the secretary – who is repeating like a “broken record” that there are no records – and then officially *record* that this person is never again able to act in such privileged position. QED