By-Law Consolidation

As a result of the amendments by the Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018 to the Strata Titles Act 1985 (STA), there are key changes to by-laws.

The changes aim to make living in strata fairer and minimise disputes.

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By-laws are the rules that everyone in the scheme must follow. This includes the strata company itself, which is a body corporate whose members are all the owners. It also includes each lot owner individually, and all the tenants in the scheme.

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All strata companies can choose which by-laws they want to adopt for the scheme.

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This is done by putting forward a resolution to make, change or delete a by-law, and getting the required standard of vote. In this way, the creation, amendment and deletion (repeal) of by-laws is an important aspect of the strata company functioning as a self-contained democracy. By-laws must be registered at Landgate within three months of being made, or they are not official – meaning that they cannot be enforced by the strata company. It is the strata company’s duty to enforce its by-laws.

 

When someone has been breaching a by-law and this has caused a dispute, which cannot be resolved, the strata company or an owner in the scheme can make an application to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) to hear the matter. SAT can make orders for a person to stop breaching a bylaw or fix the breach of the by-law.

 

Since May1, 2020, SAT may order a person to pay a penalty of up to $2,000 for the breach of a by-law.

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