Fabienne Loncar from Chambers Russell Lawyers presented this session on the upcoming Victorian strata reforms. Victoria’s Owners Corporations Act has been in place since 2006. Much of the sector feels that the legislation has struggled to keep pace with the realities of modern apartment living. The long-awaited review report has now landed, the Government has responded, and legislation has been introduced to Parliament. How has the sector reacted? Fabienne was direct. The response has not landed well, and criticism has been widespread.
The review attracted almost 160 submissions and 300 survey responses. The appetite for reform across the sector is clear. The question is whether the reforms match that appetite.
What the review set out to do
The review was tasked with checking in on the 2021 amendments five years on, to see whether they were working. The panel consisted of a former minister for consumer affairs, an economist, and a lawyer. There has been some feedback that consumer voices were underrepresented, but the volume of industry engagement was significant.
Fabienne structured her session around the themes generating the most controversy: governance and decision-making, owners corporation (OC) manager regulation, enforcement, financial hardship, and short stays. For each, the picture is the same. Some progress, some deferrals, and some gaps that remain wide open. This was also the focus of Fabienne’s previous LookUpStrata session in November 2025, where she previewed what the reforms might look like before the report had landed.
Governance: education over legislation
One of the most consistent frustrations in Victoria is the inability of larger buildings to reach quorum or pass special resolutions. Around 24% of Victorian buildings have more than 100 lots, and the 2021 amendments did little to help them. If you’re not across how the five-tiered system works in Victoria, that’s a useful starting point. The panel’s response was to focus on education and technology rather than changing consent thresholds, and Fabienne was clear that this is unlikely to satisfy the sector.
The Government has proposed extending ballot timeframes, supporting hybrid and online meetings, and running public education campaigns to improve owner engagement. A centralised OC Hub, drawing inspiration from the NSW Strata Hub model, has been supported in principle, with penalties proposed for poor record keeping. Owners wanting to understand their current right to access OC records in Victoria can find that covered separately. What hasn’t moved is the underlying consent threshold problem, which remains unresolved for larger buildings.
Proxy farming also came up. The 2021 cap on the number of proxies a person could hold was being circumvented by distributing proxies across multiple employees of the same organisation. The Government has chosen to keep proxies for OC managers, building managers and developers up to a cap rather than ban them outright, citing the needs of smaller buildings that rely on proxies to reach quorum.
Maintenance plans are also in the frame. The panel recommended that Tier 3 and Tier 4 OCs be required to have a plan, but the Government has agreed only for Tier 3, which covers buildings of 10 lots and over. Smaller buildings remain without that obligation, which Fabienne flagged as a real risk of those properties falling into disrepair.
OC manager licensing is coming
The Government has formally supported a full licensing regime for OC managers. Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) and the Business Licensing Authority will manage this. While the legislation is not yet in place, the direction is clear. Managers found to have acted dishonestly or without good faith will risk having their licence suspended or cancelled, and a publicly accessible discipline register is also proposed.
The regulations are already moving on education. Mandatory continuing education requirements were passed in May 2026, with five hours per year required. Fabienne indicated this is expected to commence from around 2028, though the exact timing is yet to be confirmed. The panel had recommended a full Cert IV in Strata Community Management as the standard, so further changes may follow as the licensing framework takes shape.
The one area where the Government pulled back is commissions. The panel recommended a full ban on financial incentives and rewards outside of contracted fees. The Government has deferred this, saying it needs more analysis and citing concerns that a ban could push up management fees. Fabienne noted this will frustrate many owners and committees who have experienced the effects of commission-driven decision-making firsthand.
Financial hardship: a framework, finally
Victoria has held a harder line on levy arrears than most other states. That is changing. The Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 introduces a legislative framework for financial hardship payment plans. Once a request is lodged, penalty interest stops, and debt recovery must pause while the plan is considered. The Government has confirmed limited grounds for refusing a request.
The treatment of financial status is one aspect of the framework that stands out. Under the proposed changes, an owner on a payment plan will not be classified as unfinancial. That means they retain their right to vote. This is a deliberate departure from the approach taken in other states, where being on a payment plan does affect voting rights. It reflects the Government’s intention to avoid the framework being seen as punitive for owners who need support.
This topic in particular generated significant discussion about the practical implications of payment plans for OCs, including what happens when multiple owners apply at once, whether owners on payment plans should be able to serve on committees, and how to manage repeated non-compliance. Participants also raised real concerns about the position of owners who do pay on time. If a significant number of lots enter payment plans simultaneously, the financial pressure on the OC increases, and the burden of covering shortfalls falls on those who are meeting their obligations. For buildings dealing with overseas owners who have stopped paying levies, the new framework will also raise questions about how hardship provisions interact with existing recovery options.
What comes next
The reforms are moving in stages, and the timeline depends on which change you are waiting for.
Mandatory professional training for OC managers is coming, with regulations passed in May 2026 requiring five hours of continuing education per year. Fabienne indicated this is expected to commence from around 2028, though the exact timing is yet to be confirmed. The officer in effective control requirement, which Fabienne discussed in her November 2025 session, commences in June 2027. These are confirmed and do not depend on the broader reform process.
The Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, which covers the financial hardship payment plan framework and the amendment to section 18(2) of the OC Act to allow non-monetary rule breach proceedings by ordinary resolution, is currently before Parliament and expected to be the first of the broader reforms to pass.
For the bigger structural reforms, particularly manager licensing and the penalties and enforcement framework, Fabienne was realistic about the timeframe. The Government has indicated it needs further industry consultation before legislating those changes, and she suggested it is unlikely anything will land in less than 12 to 18 months.
Fabienne’s broader observation was that Victoria is likely to see a rolling program of reforms over the next few years, similar to New South Wales. The hardship payment plan provisions will be reassessed in three years, and the full review of the Short Stay Levy Act 2024 is confirmed for 2030. The hope is that the review cycle will become faster and more responsive to what the sector is actually facing on the ground. For more information about strata legislation and the reform process, this session with Chris Irons from Strata Solve is a good place to start.
Download the presentation
Download Fabienne’s presentation from the session Owners Corporations Act review: What the proposed reforms mean for your building.
This article is based on the LookUpStrata webinar Licensing, levies and loose ends: unpacking Victoria’s Owners Corporations Act review, presented by Fabienne Loncar, Chambers Russell Lawyers.
Fabienne Loncar
Chambers Russell Lawyers
E: floncar@chambersrussell.com.au
P: 03 8639 9804
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