In news that will no doubt overjoy the Western Australian strata management industry, the State Administrative Tribunal (“SAT”) has recently held that there was no recourse under strata company by-laws against an owner who sent a series of abusive messages to his strata manager.
In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘶𝘴 (𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 62962) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴,[1] the SAT held that there was no breach of standard conduct by-law 4 (which provides that an owner or occupier of a lot “𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺”), because the strata manager was not an owner, occupier or other person on common property. The SAT also queried whether messages could constitute “𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳” for the purposes of the by-law.
The owner’s conduct also fell within lacunas in other non-standard conduct by-laws, because the abuse did not occur on common property, and did not constitute “𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦” (within the meaning of the by-laws) with a person employed by the strata company.
Given this outcome, strata companies will need to tread carefully before prosecuting alleged by-law breaches relating to communications with strata managers. Strata companies should also consider reviewing and amending existing by-laws to ensure sufficient coverage over unwanted conduct.
As a final note, the genesis for the SAT application appears to have been the owner’s proposed tiling works on his part-lot balcony. Interestingly, the SAT seems to have accepted that existing balcony tiles formed part of the owner’s lot, because “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 ‘𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘺’ 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳”. This conclusion appears to be inconsistent with the relatively recent decision in 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝟧𝟣𝟥𝟤𝟨,[2] in which the SAT held that the use of terms such as “𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘣” to describe lower horizontal part-lot boundaries on a strata plan is otiose.[3]
Disclaimer
This post has been prepared as a general summary only. It is not, and is not intended to be, legal advice with respect to any particular matter. This post should not be relied on with respect to any particular matter without taking legal advice. Stork Davies Legal Advisors disclaims liability to any person who relies on this post without taking legal advice from the firm.
[1] 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘶𝘴 (𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 62962) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴 [2026] WASAT 11.
[2] 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝟧𝟣𝟥𝟤𝟨 [2021] WASAT 170.
[3] See https://www.storkdavies.com.au/blog/caution-required-in-interpreting-strata-lot-boundaries/.