This case note has been taken from the recently published second-edition of a Guide to ACT Strata Law. A physical copy of the full text can be purchased here.
The applicants were the owners of a lot seeking orders requiring the strata manager to provide them with a copy of the strata roll containing the names of each owner, their mailing address within Australia and any related information, within two business days.
The applicants claimed they were entitled to such access under section 108 of the SSMA and required a copy of the full strata roll to enable correspondence 581 with other owners regarding the performance of the strata manager.
The strata manager, in its submission, referred to access to ‘private information that is beyond the scope of the legislation and the National Privacy Principals’ (sic).
NCAT held that there were three reasons that the arguments made by the strata manager that the strata roll couldn’t be disclosed due to the Privacy Act were misconceived. Firstly, the strata roll required an ‘address for service of notices’ on lot owners and such an address for service was not ‘information … about an individual’ within the definition of personal information in section 6 of the Privacy Act. Secondly, even if such an address for service was ‘information … about an individual’, part of the primary purpose of the collection of lot owners addresses and their inclusion on the strata roll was so they can be contacted by other lot owners and the executive committee of the owners corporation. Thirdly, even if that is not part of the primary purpose for the collection of lot owners’ addresses, disclosure of the information on the strata roll was required by section 108 of the SSMA, which meant that disclosure of the addresses falls within the exception set out in clause 2.1(g) of the National Privacy Principles (as the APPs then were).
Contrary to the submissions of the respondent, the National Privacy Principles did not ‘supersede’ the provisions of the SSMA which required access to be given to the strata roll by a lot owner who has made a request for access under section 108 of the SSMA. Further, the consent of lot owners to the disclosure of their addresses for service is not required.
This is general information and should not be considered to be legal advice. You should obtain legal advice specific to your individual situation.
