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Advice on Legislation

Advice on Legislation & Statutory Obligations

Bodies corporate have legislative (or ‘statutory’) obligations under the relevant community titles legislation in each state. In Queensland, most bodies corporate are regulated by the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (‘Act’, frequently abbreviated to ‘BCCMA’) and one of the following ‘regulation modules’:

  • Standard Module
  • Accommodation Module
  • Commercial Module
  • Small Schemes Module
  • Specified Two-Lot Schemes Module

We say ‘most’ schemes are regulated under the Act as there are a limited number of schemes regulated under different laws, such as BUGTA.

In New South Wales, strata schemes are regulated under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (frequently abbreviated to ‘SSMA’) and a set of regulations. There is also a set of regulations and a separate act and regulation that govern the development of strata schemes. The state also adopts different terminology, referring to ‘owners corporations’ (instead of bodies corporate). There is also separate legislation in New South Wales dealing with ‘community schemes’ (which create ‘community associations’ and ‘neighbourhood associations’).

These various schemes have a management committee to deal with the day-to-day management and administration of the scheme (avoiding the need for general meetings of all owners for every decision). One of the roles of the committee is to assist the body corporate in navigating through its legislative obligations and ensuring the body corporate remains compliant with its duties under the applicable laws. In Queensland, the Act contains a Code of Conduct for committee voting members (‘Code’), which includes an obligation to acquire an understanding of the Act and Code, and ensure compliance with them.

However, the laws are not always (in fact, rarely) straightforward, and it can be difficult for committees to properly adhere to the applicable rules without expert advice.

Small Myers Hughes has a wealth of experience in assisting committees, bodies corporate, body corporate managers, on-site managers, owners, occupiers, developers, and other stakeholders understand their legislative obligations. We provide advice on a wide range of matters to ensure statutory requirements are being met. We have lawyers who work exclusively within the area of strata and community titles and know the legislation inside out and back to front.

If you have a query on the correct application of the legislation, or have encountered what you perceive to be an unusual situation, it is likely that your situation is not unique and our team has probably encountered the same or similar situations before. We provide comprehensive but easy to understand legal advice, adopting a practical and commercial approach to find solutions to ensure you can move forward with confidence.