Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (15:03): I am delighted to make a brief contribution to debate of the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. The object of the bill is to amend the Strata Management Act 2015, the Community Land Management Act 2021 and related legislation to implement 37 recommendations from the 2021 report of the statutory review of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, to increase owners' corporation protections, uplift developer and strata managing agent professionalism, ensure owners properly maintain their building, strengthen the governance of strata committees and overall make community living better and easier for residents.

At the outset, I acknowledge the relevant Ministers, Anoulack Chanthivong and Jihad Dib, and their teams for their conscientious work in bringing the bill to the House to ensure we adopt a progressive approach with regard to strata legislation more broadly, and as the Government's second tranche of reforms from the 2021 report. The bill will implement reforms to strengthen developer accountability by requiring an initial maintenance schedule and the initial levy estimates of the administrative fund and capital works fund to be independently certified, and by increasing penalties for developers who fail to meet their new obligations and failing to hold a first annual general meeting in the required time.

Members of this House know that I commonly do not read from notes. However, this legislation is very specific. I think it is important for interpretation that, when the legislation comes before the judiciary, judges are able to refer very specifically to its provisions. Firstly, I note that the Minister was very specific in the bill's many and varied reforms because the intention of this legislation is outlined in the content of the bill. It supports the sustainability infrastructure and accessibility infrastructure uptake will be by prohibiting by-laws that prevent the installation of sustainability infrastructure solely on appearance, except where heritage listed or within a heritage conservation area, requiring owners' corporations to consider sustainability at each annual general meeting and when preparing estimates for the capital works funds to make it easier for an owners' corporation to pass accessibility infrastructure resolutions. That point is particularly relevant because it has been a flaw within the industry and in legislation for some time. The bill is an indication that this Government and the relevant Ministers, particularly Minister Chanthivong, have taken a very progressive and enthusiastic approach to fill the current legislation's voids.

The bill is important but, as the Minister said, it introduces just a tranche of the work that needs to be done to respond to the report. Government members are happy to say that we are working progressively, productively and pragmatically while recognising that there is so much more to do. The Minister and the Government have been very clear about that. The bill provides for uplift strata professional services to improve owners' confidence by prohibiting certain unfair terms in strata management agreements. It requires strata managing agents to report every six months to the owners' corporation on the functions they exercise, adding a new statutory duty for building managers to act in owners' corporations best interests, and adding a new ground to terminate strata managing agents and building manager agreements if they carry on a business in a way that is contrary to law. It will improve the governance of strata committees by imposing additional duties on strata committee members and prescribing training requirements for committees that require strata committees to provide written reasons for refusing minor renovation requests within three months of the application, and by providing deemed approval if they fail to do so.

This legislation is very much about tightening laws; it is not just about legislative reform. It is about making strata committees more accountable and about adding a fairer balance in the committees. This will put the interests of the tenants at the level of attention that they not only need but also deserve. This legislation is a positive step in that direction. The bill will require owners' corporations to maintain and repair common property by enabling NSW Fair Trading to enter into enforceable undertakings with owners' corporations, or to issue compliance notices when owners' corporations have not met their duties under the Act of maintaining the building, and by restricting the ability of an owners' corporation to defer building works if safety or amenity is affected.

The bill prescribes requirements for a 10-year capital works fund plan and requires the initial plan to consider the initial maintenance schedule. The bill also extends the two‑year limit on damages claims by lot owners to six years and implements reforms to protect owners' corporations against unfair contract terms by prohibiting them in line with Australian Consumer Law. It also improves protections for owners and prospective owners around embedded networks by removing the exemption for embedded electricity supply contracts so that three‑year term limits apply, clarifies the definition of "utility" to apply to a range of communication and domestic services, and adds new conveyancing disclosure requirements around embedded networks—which is an important process, particularly when it comes to interpreting the Act and the intention of the legislation. The conveyancing process clearly strikes the right balance as to what is required to ensure that all parties are aware of their obligations and requirements.

The bill assists owners in financial hardship by requiring levy notices to be accompanied by information approved by NSW Fair Trading, such as contact details for the National Debt Helpline and encouraging early action by lot owners in financial hardship. It introduces safeguards for owners who are experiencing financial hardship, such as requirements around payment plans and applying arrears payments to levies first, followed by interest and debt recovery expenses, and increasing the notice of debt recovery action from 21 days to 30 days. That is a particularly important part of the legislation because I believe many people continue to navigate their way through financial hardship brought about by the cost of living in today's economy. We need to be very prudent. Whilst people need to pay their bills, we can amend legislation to ensure that there is fairness in times of hardship. This provision is a positive step in that direction. Finally, the bill introduces other minor changes to improve its operation.

In conclusion, considerable stakeholder consultation was undertaken in November 2022 and February 2024 on options to help inform drafting of the bill, and an additional four-week consultation from September to October 2024 informed the final bill. A number of external stakeholders provided submissions on the bill, but I particularly note the Australian Resident Accommodation Managers Association, the Financial Rights Legal Centre and the Law Society of New South Wales, amongst many others. The Minister and his team had extensive internal consultation with all members across the aisle, receiving feedback to ensure that we put good legislation in place that finds the right balance and helps those living in strata accommodation. I thank all my colleagues who were involved, particularly the relevant Ministers and their staff, for their hard work on this detailed and complex bill over an extended period. I give them credit for bringing this bill to the House. I hope the bill passes quickly so that the required improvements can be implemented for those who operate within the strata process. I commend the bill to the House.