Question: Our strata management and council of owners harass, intimidate and bully owners. What can we do and where can we make a complaint?
Answer: Try to resolve the issue internally without external intervention (if the parties feel comfortable doing so).
The options available to an owner experiencing harassment, intimidation, or bullying by a strata manager or council of owners depend on several factors, including the strata company’s by-laws or, in the case of a strata manager’s behaviour, the terms of the strata management agreement.
Before making a complaint, we suggest trying to resolve the issue internally without external intervention (if the parties feel comfortable doing so). Sometimes these matters simply require open communication in a safe and comfortable environment.
Owners can make a complaint to the Strata Community Association WA (SCA WA) in relation to alleged breaches of its Code of Conduct by its members, noting the strata manager will need to be a member to make such a complaint. For more information about the SCA WA Code of Conduct, the complaints form, and its members, please visit the SCA WA website.
Otherwise, if the issue cannot be resolved internally, the owner may be able to apply to the State Administrative Tribunal to resolve a scheme dispute. However, certain steps must be taken before an application can be made to the Tribunal. These steps will depend on the specific conduct you are complaining about, and legal advice should be obtained prior to commencing an application in the Tribunal.
Disclaimer: The above response contains a summary of relevant information or an opinion which is current at the date of publication. This document is not intended to constitute legal advice and does not take into account individual facts and circumstances. The reader must not rely on the above response as advice.
This post appears in the September 2025 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.
Jason O’Meara
McWilliams Davis Lawyers
E: jo@mcwilliamsdavis.com.au
P: 08 9422 8910
I am an owner of an Apartment(Motel Room) in The Atrium at Mandurah. .About two weeks ago I received a letter of demand for outstanding Strata Fees and interest to be paid if late. This came from a Newly Appointed Strata Manager. After a phone call I was informed that there is a new committee and they have voted on fees so the building can be kept up to a high standard. I have asked for copies of meeting agendas./minutes and correspondence for the last 2 years since my ownership. I have still not received anything and do not feel comfortable on paying fees without any documents to support the request. The strata Manager has requested the Atrium Chairman and secretary to contact me and email me the documents requested. Nothing forthcoming. I am very suspicious of what might be happening there. Any advice?
Thank you for your assistance!
A question about how strata managers can be changed.
Two owners (who happen to be on the three-person council of owners) recently organised to change our strata management to someone one of them has worked with in the past.
There was no tender process; no documentation from the council of owners about why this manager was selected; and no opportunity for owners to vote on electing this new manager.
Is there a legal requirement for a council of owners to invite tenders, document the tender process and decision making? We feel blindsided.
Thank you
Hi Sue
Many of your questions have been addressed in this Q&A article:
WA: Q&A Procedure for Appointing a New Strata Manager
Subject:Parking on grass verge in Como WA
Does the lawn and reticulation which we installed and maintain come under common ground or other law?
Has the council of owners (who are the main offenders) have the right to allow parking on it or does it have to be a ratified by all owners?
If it is the latter would this have to be a majority or unanimous vote to allow parking?
Do the individuals responsible for damage have to pay for repair works?
Hi Larry
The following response has been provided by Shane White, Strata Title Consult:
The verge is the area of land outside the boundary of the strata scheme and as such is outside the operation of the Strata Titles Act 1985.
The strata company is at liberty to install reticulation in the verge area (they may require Local Council approval to do so.
Any parking control on the verge would rest with the Local Council to either permit or prohibit verge parking as the verge belongs to the Local Council.
You could request to have the verge lawn recorded with the Local Council as a registered lawn where parking is not permitted.
One would hope that you could recover any damage to the reticulation system.
This can be dealt with at the AGM if necessary.
Really important to ensure there is a motion under notice on the Agenda. Any owner can request an item of business – but advise the strata manager FAST – as Notices are usually issued 3 weeks prior.
Provide background explanation for the agenda…. paving on the common area is uneven and increases risk of injury. To minimise risk and liability claims, it is proposed that repairs are undertaken prior to summer.
Make the motion specific…. “that the council of owners be authorised to receive quotes and engage the most appropriate contractor to undertake the work for repair to paving on the common property to a maximum of $…, from the General Repairs budget.”
Request that this sum be included in the budget.
Google average paving costs and estimate the amount. This will be the maximum that can be spent and doesn’t specify where, so ensure all dangerous paving is repaired at the same time.
The insurer will be very pleased that risk is being minimised.
If you need extra help, contact Nikki (Look Up Strata) and she can pass on my email if privately permitted.
Thanks so much, eM. Happy to do that if required, Sorn.
As members of the council are nominated and elected at the AGM, if you examine the attendance record for the last meeting it will (or should) indicate the owner of each lot and who is ‘present’ which may clarify ownership. Oftentimes the Minutes will also state the unit from which the member is elected.
As a council member and the owner of the lot needing the work, you may have a conflict of interest too which may (not will) mean you need to abstain from voting on the issue.
in relation to the maintenance work, it sounds like there is an exclusive use arrangement, which rather alters the equation about whether the strata company or the owner is responsible for maintenance and repairs.
If, as you say the work needed is not just cosmetic then the first step is to examine the strata plan and determine where the boundary of each lot lies (inside or outside).
So, for example, if the boundary is the inner surface and there is damage to the walls the strata company will need to address the work.
However, if the work relates to cracking of garden walls within the exclusive use area then it is more than likely your own responsibility under exclusive use arrangements.
Without more detail it’s not as simple as it sounds. However, rather than go to the trouble of a SAT application the matter could be clarified relatively simply by carefully reading the strata plan, any by-laws and management statement then taking the question to the strata manager asking for help in clarifying your responsibility as a lot owner. . . my understanding is that is part of the strata manager’s role.
All the best and let us know how you go on.
No exclusive use clauses. Damage is to area around unit, ie paving related, could be a safety issue.
Even if i don’t vote, couple have majority block then.
If i go to the SAT does it take weeks or months?
Is it worth waiting till the new laws pass in WA, i think by years end.
Can the SAT compel a strata manager to release funds.
Also, i have asked the Strata manager for advice on what to do about this matter but have just been ignored.
Can i pay for repair and then be reimbursed by Strata, possibly after SAT application?
AGM in next few weeks.
Hi,
I need some advice if possible please.
I live in a block of units which are covered by strata in Perth. I own my unit. There are 4 people on the Council of Owners (COO), i am one of these. 2 of the others are a couple and effectively form a voting block.
They own 2 units in the complex though I do not know if they both co-own or only one owns both or one each. Does any of this make a difference as to whether they can be on the council of owners?
My main query however is that I need some work done on my property on parts that are considered common property, in my backyard but still part of the common property and not just cosmetic either. I have requested the COO to approve the expense, there is plenty of funds available for this. Naturally i approve of the request and so too has the 4th COO member but the couple are remaining silent and without a further vote there is no majority.
What are my options to compel the 2 other COO’s to vote or to compel the strata manager to release the funds?
Apart from remaining silent, can the couple realistically vote ‘No’ as the work is required to maintain the property in good condition?
Will an application to the SAT help in this regard?
thanks
Sorn
Hi Jeffrey, they should have been elected at your last AGM if you attended. If you didn’t they should be on the Minutes of the Meeting. It is also best the request to the Strata Manager actually comes from the owner your wife and not you. Always in writing, as this forms evidence if the issue has to go further, which hopefully for everyone’s sake it doesn’t.
My wife who is our owner has not been told the names of the Council of owners and after many requests by myself to the Strata Manager I am completely ignored.
Hi Dorothy
The council of owners is supposed to be representative of all owners. The members are elected at the AGM each year and the Minutes distributed to all owners who will then know who is a member of the council. It really is an individual owner choice (and responsibility) to raise something for discussion – whether at a council meeting or an AGM.
There is no requirement to notify other owners when council meetings are scheduled and, indeed, non-councillors would generally not attend council meetings unless invited. Owners will usually voice their concerns via the strata manager if there is one in place, and as council meetings usually include financial oversight it would be helpful for the strata manager to be notified so that any matters can be included on the council’s agenda.
Where there are just a few owners, and particularly if they are also occupiers, it can be beneficial to include them in seeking perspective, to encourage participation in future years, or draw on their experience. “Notification” then becomes an informal process where neighbours speak to each other and the community generates feedback.
As every strata company is different, there can be multiple ways in which items are raised for discussion… to a councillor, via strata manager, in person, by mail, noticeboard, or electronic means.
According to the ACT, all owners may attend Council meetings as OBSERVERS they cannot participate or speak but can attend just as you can attend the local council of the suburb you live in.
I have the same problem and what I suspected became true, the council of owners is a little club and they do as they please personally and do not take into consideration any other owners. All have been in power for 16 years and will not take nominations from other owners. It is a lousy system we have in WA and not regulated.
Hi Carmen
I point your attention to this article: Question: Can lot owners attend Council of Owner meetings?
Thanks
Should Counsel of owners notify other owners when they are having a meeting ,so the others can put forward items to be discussed
We received the following comment from an SA Resident about this article:
Does this Question & answers in the article apply for South Australia?
Tony Johnson, Horner Management has provided the following reply:
Absolutely the main focus of this article would be accurate, in terms of the main functions of a Manager, and to review your Management Contract if there is a concern with an S.A Manager.
The Council of Owners would be called a Committee in S.A and again the scope would be similar in their duties, and fulfilling Officer Bearer’s roles as outlined under the Act.
The basis is applicable to a similar concern in S.A. I suggest you review the Management Contract and the Legal Services Guide for Strata Titles.
We are in year 3 of a 5 year term with our Strata Manager. The Strata Council is not including the Strata Manager in any meetings of the Strata Council. The minutes of these meetings do not include financial reporting or any input from the Strata Manager. I am contributing via my Strata Fees a salary for the Strata Manager who Is being denied doing their job. What can be done to make the Strata Council include the Strata Manager in the role that they are paid for.