As a unit title owner you are part of the body corporate for our home here in Newtown and as such, as well as having direct responsibility for looking after the inside of your own property, you are also part of a collective group responsible for the complex’s management, use of body corporate funds and upholding of the collective body corporate agreement (the body corporate rules).  Operation and maintenance of the complex and shared facilities is the job of the body corporate.

A body corporate comprises all the owners of a unit title complex. It is not something that you can opt out of.

Any Body Corporate is governed by the provisions of the Unit Titles Act 2010 – with amendments in 2013 and Unit Titles Regulations 2011 (“the Act”).

The Act sets out rules for the use and management of the units and all common property that is owned by all the owners but is the responsibility of the body corporate.

A set of “founding” body rules was set (link to the current rules) and a professional body corporate manager (Oxygen) was appointed by the Developers (CGW Limited). A meeting was held at the end of October 2020 which was the first Annual General Meeting at which a body corporate committee (your committee) was established from the owners of Blocks A and B who had taken possession at that time.

What is the owners committee?

Once there are ten or more units occupied, the Act says they must elect a committee – only unit title owners may be elected to be on the committee. At the time of the election only blocks A and B were occupied, so at present the committee is made up of owners from those two blocks

Another Body Corporate Annual General Meeting is planned for the end of the financial year (April 2021), at which point we would welcome additional representation from the other completed and occupied Blocks.

What does the body corporate do?

The Body Corporate and the committee are responsible for a range of compulsory and additional activities. For example, it is required to:

• Ensure that the complex has adequate insurance
• Have a long term maintenance plan for the complex to maintain its buildings and grounds
• Set the annual levy and ensure that all the required accounting/auditing is done
• Employment of the body corporate manager and any other contracting services required.

The role of the owners committee may vary. Some can be very “hands on” sharing jobs around. An active owners committee with a range of professional skills may take a lead role in many activities.  We believe that an active committee will help establish an attractive, friendly and smoothly run place where we all live and build a strong community as well as looking after our investment (our home).

What do Oxygen do? (the professional body corporate management)

In January 2020 the developers (CGW Limited) set up a two year agreement with Oxygen Strata Limited in accordance with the UTA 2010 and the Unit Titles Regulations 2011 to enter into a Service Agreement with a Body Corporate Management. There role is to assist the body corporate to meet its legislative and financial obligations (in summary)

• General Secretarial Duties
• Preparing and documenting the Annual General Meeting for the body corporate
• Getting insurance for the complex
• Repairs and maintenance quotes
• Maintaining appropriate financial records