The Legal Affairs and Safety Committee has released its report following the inquiry into the Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023.

The key issues raised during the committee’s examination of the Bill included:

• termination of a community titles scheme for economic reasons
• approval of alternative insurance arrangements for bodies corporate who cannot obtain insurance on the market
• body corporate by-laws relating to smoking
• body corporate by-laws relating to pets
• towing of vehicles by bodies corporate
• enforcing by-laws between schemes in a layered community titles scheme
• body corporate governance, documentation and administration
• using sunset clauses to terminate an ‘off the plan’ land sale contract
• early release of deposits for ‘off the plan’ land sale contracts
• compliance with the Legislative Standards Act 1992
• compliance with the Human Rights Act 2019.

The committee recommends the Bill be passed.

Read on for a summary of 9 recommendations made by the committee and for the full report.

Recommendations

Recommendation 1

The committee recommends the Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 be passed.

Recommendation 2

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government develop an education campaign with the CTL Working Group to provide guidance and resources to organisations and individuals to support the proposed reforms including, in particular, information on the dispute resolution processes available for lot owners in community titles schemes.

Recommendation 3

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government review the proposed section 167 and consider whether guidance (such as statutory notes or examples) should be provided around the word ‘regularly’ contained with the section.

Recommendation 4

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government, in collaboration with the CTL Working Group, review the interaction between the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 regarding timeframes for requests to keep pets from a lot owner or tenant.

Recommendation 5

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government, in collaboration with the CTL Working Group, consider providing additional guidance and resources to bodies corporate regarding their powers to tow vehicles that are parked in contravention of a by-law, in particular, vehicles owned or operated by visitors.

Recommendation 6

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government consider amending the relevant sections of the 5 module regulations made under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 to clarify whether the prescribed fee for obtaining a copy of a record kept by the body corporate applies to digital copies as well as printed copies.

Recommendation 7

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government review, within 24 months of the implementation of the Bill, the exercise of sunset clauses giving consideration to current housing pressures, practices by developers and sellers in relation to inappropriate use of sunset clauses, and the associated impact on consumer confidence and housing supply.

Recommendation 8

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government conduct a review within 24 months of the commencement of the Bill to determine and address any unintended consequences that may have arisen by the proposed amendments.

Recommendation 9

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government in conjunction with organisations such as REIQ review the interaction between the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 and the Minimum Housing Standards, as prescribed by the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008, in the particular with respect to the how these reforms impact on owners in a community titles scheme.

You can read the full report here.

Article Contributed by Smart Strata 

The post LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL INQUIRY – REPORT RELEASED appeared first on Smart Strata | Body Corporate Management.