Question: Almost half the owners in a strata scheme don’t speak English. Should notices and minutes be translated, and are they valid if they aren’t?
About 45% of the owners in our scheme don’t speak English. Should agenda notices and minutes be offered in another language?
Are they valid if not everyone can understand them?
Answer: NSW strata law doesn’t require notices, agendas or minutes to be translated, and they aren’t invalid just because some owners can’t understand English.
Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) (SSMA) and the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016, there is no general statutory requirement for an owners corporation to provide meeting notices, agendas or minutes in languages other than English, regardless of the proportion of owners who do not speak English.
Schedule 1, clauses 7 to 9 and 22 of the SSMA establish requirements concerning meeting notices, agendas and minutes, including the relevant notice periods, prescribed information and meeting records. These provisions do not impose an obligation to translate documents based on the linguistic background of lot owners.
Importantly, section 155 of the SSMA recognises circumstances where an owner cannot read or write English sufficiently well. It permits an owner to appoint an agent residing in Australia to receive statutory notices and documents on their behalf. The appointment must be communicated to the owners corporation and recorded on the strata roll before it takes effect.
Regarding validity, meeting notices, agendas, minutes and resolutions are not automatically invalid merely because some owners cannot understand English. Their validity depends on compliance with applicable statutory requirements, not universal language comprehension. However, sections 24 and 25 of the SSMA provide mechanisms for challenging certain resolutions where meeting requirements have not been met, including defective notice or improper denial of voting rights.
From a practical and operational perspective, requiring an owners corporation to translate every document may not be financially or administratively sustainable. Strata management involves ongoing day-to-day operations and frequent correspondence between the owners corporation, strata committee, lot owners, contractors and other stakeholders. Such communications can include routine maintenance updates, levy notices, meeting correspondence, compliance matters and, occasionally, urgent or emergency notifications requiring immediate attention.
Translating all correspondence could create significant additional costs, administrative burdens and potential delays, particularly where several languages are involved. Urgent communications about water leaks, fire safety, building defects, or essential service interruptions may require immediate distribution, making it impractical to obtain professional translations before issuing the original notices.
Furthermore, where translations are considered appropriate, engaging a NAATI-certified translator is preferable, particularly for important legal, financial or technical documents. Professional translation helps preserve the intended meaning and reduces the risk of errors or misunderstandings. However, these services involve additional costs that the owners corporation would need to consider and budget for appropriately.
Nevertheless, where approximately 45% of owners have limited English proficiency, it would be reasonable for the owners corporation to consider practical measures to improve communication and encourage participation. These may include translated summaries of significant motions, language assistance during general meetings or professional translations of particularly important documents, such as substantial special levies, major remedial works proposals or proposed by-law amendments.
Any translated material should supplement, rather than replace, the statutory documents and should not delay the issue of time-sensitive notices. The owners corporation may also consider adopting a consistent communication policy that balances accessibility, operational efficiency and financial responsibility.
In my professional experience as a strata manager, I have encountered a similar situation where an owners corporation resolved to translate certain notices into three different languages to accommodate the linguistic needs of its owners. However, this arrangement did not extend to meeting agendas or minutes. This shows that owners corporations may adopt a practical, selective approach to multilingual communication, balancing accessibility with the administrative and financial implications of translation. Consider such arrangements on a case-by-case basis, having regard to the scheme’s circumstances and the statutory requirements governing notices and meetings.
In summary, NSW strata legislation does not generally require meeting documents to be translated into other languages, and a lack of universal English-language comprehension does not, of itself, invalidate notices, minutes or resolutions. While accommodating language differences is encouraged as good governance, any translation arrangements should remain proportionate, practical and financially sustainable, having regard to the scheme’s ongoing operational requirements.
This post appears in Strata News #815.
Abe Ayoubi W: Senior Strata Manager (NSW) E: abe.strata@gmail.com
