This article is about the requirements to disclose owner contact details.
There are many occasions when an owner may wish to contact all other owners. I will not discuss those occasions in this article.
In Western Australia, strata ownership is governed by the Strata Titles Act 1985 and other Acts and Regulations, which may be State or Federal. Bound by this legislation, what are the requirements to disclose owner contact details?
Strata Title Act 1985 – by the numbers:
Section 104 – Records and correspondence
Section 104 comprehensively lists the records to be kept, including, but not limited to, minutes of meetings, books of account, resolutions, correspondence, the strata management contract, insurance contract, infrastructure contract, and so on.
Section 105 – Roll to be kept by the Strata Company
Section 105 stresses the requirement of the strata company to “prepare and maintain a roll”, how the roll may be kept, and the details required to be collected.
Now we know that, in WA, the roll can be kept in paper or electronic form and the details recorded. I note, in particular for the benefit of this article, Subsection (4)(c) “the name and address for service of the owner of each lot”. This information is part of the strata company records.
What fees MAY be payable?
You would also need to refer to the Strata Titles (General) Regulations 2019
Reg 86 – Fees for applications under s. 107
Reg 86 lists the fees that may be charged for applications to search for information under a particular section of the Act.
Reg 87 – Inspection of material
Reg 87 specifies the conditions on how the records may be conducted.
Section 106 – Address for service if no roll maintained in 2, 3, 4 or 5-lot scheme.
Section 106 deals with the 2 to 5-lot schemes, where an exemption by-law may be registered that exempts the owners from having meetings, minutes, levies, and accounts.
Section 107 – Application by person with proper interest in information
Section 107 outlines who can request information about a strata scheme and what information they can access.
Section 108 – Contact information
Section 108 explains the requirement for strata companies to give out the names and addresses of a council member and an officer to anyone who asks for it. If a strata company doesn’t provide this information within 14 days of being asked, they can be fined $3,000. This section ensures that people can easily contact the right people within a strata company if they need to.
Section 109 – Inspection of material
Section 109 details what can be searched. From this section, we can see that the roll kept under Section 105 is allowed to be searched.
What about the Commonwealth Privacy Act?
The Commonwealth Privacy Act does not prevent access to lot owner details. This law only applies to organisations that earn more than $3 million annually or handle personal information for commercial purposes. Most strata schemes do not meet these criteria. Therefore, using privacy as a reason to deny access to lot owner information is not justified under the Commonwealth Privacy Act.
We are talking about contact information – there may be some owners who do have a phone number, but it is silent, or they don’t want it disclosed.
I am unaware of any specific SAT cases about this, but the Act requires that all owners must be contactable. If they live overseas, they must have an email address where they can be contacted (Section 215 – 216).
Shane White
Strata Title Consult
E: shane.white@stratatitleconsult.com.au
This post appears in the August 2024 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.
Have a question or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.
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Thanks for this article Shane, I have only just found it when searching for information about accessing owner contact details as the secretary for a council of owners in WA. I note that section 215, part of the 2018 update of the Act, now specifically states that owners may provide an email as part of their contact details:
215. Address for service
(1) An address for service provided under this Act must be an
address of a place within Australia.
(2) An electronic address may be provided as an additional address
for service under this Act.
[Section 215 inserted: No. 30 of 2018 s. 83.]
I have been seeking access to owner contact details from our Strata Manager, in particular the electronic addresses for those owners who provided one, so that I can share information with owners related to the day to day operation of the building. I was granted access to the strata roll however no email addresses were included (even for me and I know I included one on my 105 form).
A further request for access to the full strata roll was denied citing privacy issues and claiming that section 105 only requires a postal address for service and that had been provided to me. Despite my reference to section 215 and information I have gained from strata help websites that state the following: “When an owner formally provides an email address as an “additional address for service,” it legally becomes part of the strata company’s official records. In Western Australia, privacy arguments cannot be used to withhold official strata records from the secretary or other owners” the manager has continued to deny me access to the full strata roll.
I own Unit 3 in a three unit Single Tier strata scheme in Perth. I have an exising Building Ins Policy with Company X that I am perfectly happy with. The owner of Units 1 & 2 (now only Unit 1 , (1 & 2 having been combined into a single property) cannot get Building Ins with Company X, only Company Y.
I do not want to take out a policy with Company Y because the premium is approx double my current policy and the Excess is $2000 compared to my current $200.
CompanyY has threatened to cancel the Building Ins Policy with the Owner of Unit 1 unless I also take out a Policy with Company Y.
The Building Policies of both Companies X & Y are consistent. They both include cover for Common Property and all necessary items covered in the Strata Title Act.
Is the Ins Company Y acting in a Fair & Reasonable manner?
Do I have any recourse to dispute Company Y’s insistance that I take a a Policy with them or am I obligated to take out a Policy with them?
The Owner of Unit 1 ( & 2) has advised me that he cannot get Building Insurance with any other company.