Long before the 2024 Strata Insurance Crisis lawyers were warning their clients and anyone else that was interested about the risks of receiving or paying secret commissions, referral fees or kickback in most business environments.
In this 2019 article Secret commissions and you by Cornwalls, they cover the problem from a Victorian perspective for anyone in an agency relationship [like strata managers] and potential criminal liability under the section 176 of the Crimes Act 1958 [Vic] and the decision in R v Gallagher [1986] VR 219.
BTW … there’s very similar criminal sanctions for secret commissions in all Australian states.
So, perhaps it’s worth considering this aspect of insurance and other commission payments to avoid even more strata problems.
You can read the full article here.