Reforms to Queensland’s Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 are set to commence on 1 May this year.
The reforms that were passed last year will:
- Allow for termination of uneconomic community titles schemes at a reduced level of agreement in particular circumstances (75% of owners);
- Allow an adjudicator to approve for a body corporate to put in place alternative insurance arrangements when it cannot comply with the required level of insurance for particular buildings;
- Strengthen protections for residents in community titles schemes against second-hand smoke, by providing that a body corporate can make by-laws that prohibit or restrict smoking on common property or an outdoor area and clarifying smoking as a nuisance, hazard or unreasonable interference;
- Clarify that body corporate by-laws cannot prohibit the keeping of animals on a lot or common property or restrict the number, type or size of an animal that may be kept by an occupier, and a body corporate must not unreasonably withhold approval to keep an animal;
- Enhance by-law enforcement in layered arrangements of community titles schemes and improve access to records in layered arrangements of community titles schemes; and
- Clarify and streamline administrative and procedural requirements, improve transparency and accountability in body corporate governance, and ensure the body corporate is provided with documents necessary to perform its functions.
More information on the Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 can be found on the government’s website.