The Unintended Consequences of Compulsory Strata Committee Training

or, sorry to rain on your strata title sector training solutions parade …

A Quick Read

There’s been a rising chorus of strata voices calling for strata committee member training and New South Wales is making it compulsory later in 2025. But, whilst it’s true that there’s a lot of strata ignorance and increased strata citizen knowledge and awareness would be great, in this article I explain why making training compulsory will not work as it has unintended negative consequences.

So, sorry to rain on your strata title sector solutions parade.

[a 7:00 minute read, with 1366 words]

The Full Article

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INTRODUCTION

Strata committees play a crucial role in managing the common property and governance of strata schemes, making decisions that impact financial management, property maintenance, and community harmony. Given the complexity of strata law and governance, some policymakers have proposed making training for strata committee members compulsory to improve decision-making and ensure compliance with relevant laws.

Strata committees play a crucial role in managing the governance of strata schemes, making decisions that impact financial management, property maintenance, repair and replacement, and community harmony.

Given the complexity of strata law and governance, some policymakers have proposed making training for strata committee members compulsory to improve decision making and ensure compliance with strata laws.

While this may seem like a well intentioned solution, introducing mandatory strata committee training is likely to create more problems than it solves. I believe that, instead of fostering better management and governance, such a mandate could lead to one of two likely scenarios.

1. A downward spiral where fewer people are willing to serve on strata committees: leading to dysfunctional governance and the collapse of training programs as they become commercially unviable.

2. Mass non compliance and a failure to enforce the training requirements: ultimately rendering the policy ineffective and further eroding confidence in the strata sector.

Both scenarios would have severe consequences for the effective operation of strata schemes, highlighting why a compulsory training approach may do more harm than good.

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL: FEWER VOLUNTEERS, ENFORCEMENT & FAILING TRAINING PROGRAMS

Strata committees already struggle to attract volunteers.

Serving on a strata committee is an unpaid and often thankless task, requiring strata committee members to dedicate time and effort to resolving disputes, managing financial matters, and making complex decisions. Many strata owners hesitate to get involved due to concerns over time commitments, conflict with neighbours, or simply a lack of interest.

And, sometimes self interested strata committee members dominate and control strata committees over the medium to long term.

Adding mandatory training to the mix will further discourage participation

For many potential strata committee members, the requirement to complete formal training will be seen as yet another barrier to entry. Some will perceive it as unnecessary red tape, while others may lack the time, motivation, or technical skills to complete the training, especially if it involves online coursework or assessments.

Impact on committee functionality

As fewer people volunteer, those who remain on strata committees will be forced to take on an even greater burden.

In some cases, strata buildings may struggle to meet the minimum number of strata committee members required by law, leading to dysfunctional governance.

This could result in the following consequences.

• Increased costs due to the need for professional strata managers to take over tasks traditionally handled by strata committees.

• Slower decision making as strata committees become understaffed and overworked.

• Higher levels of conflict as fewer people are left to manage disputes and enforce bylaws.

• Perversely, strata committees become dominated [medium or long term] by the few volunteers who are prepared to do the compulsory training.

Eventually, some strata buildings may find it nearly impossible to maintain an operational strata committee, forcing a reliance on external compulsory management at significant expense and disruption.

Collapse of training programs

Compulsory strata committee training is likely to be delivered by a mix of government and private sector providers [although the details of the proposed NSW strata committee training courses are not yet known].

However, for strata committee training programs to be sustainable, there must be sufficient demand to justify their continued operation and fund their establishment costs, operational, delivery, and reporting costs, as well as the cost of updating courses over time.

If fewer people are willing to serve on strata committees due to the training requirement, demand for these courses will decline. Over time, training providers may struggle to remain financially viable, leading to:

• A lack of course availability.

• Increased costs for training programs to compensate for lower enrolment.

• A reduction in the quality and accessibility of training courses.

Ironically, this would create a self defeating cycle with fewer strata committee members leading to fewer training participants, which leads to the collapse of the training programs, making it even harder for strata committees to comply with training requirements.

MASS NON COMPLIANCE & LACK OF ENFORCEMENT

The alternative outcome is equally problematic: mass non compliance.

If strata committee members continue to serve without meeting the training requirement [either due to ignorance, unwillingness, or the unavailability of training] compliance levels will be low.

Governments would then face a difficult choice between two options.

Strict Enforcement: Which would create administrative burdens and potentially force untrained strata committee members to step down, further worsening volunteer shortages adding to strata committee dysfunction.

Turning a Blind Eye: Leading to widespread disregard for the rule in strata buildings and undermining confidence in strata governance.

The reality of non enforcement

Regulatory bodies already struggle to enforce existing strata laws.

In many jurisdictions [including New South Wales], authorities lack the resources to monitor compliance, investigate complaints, and impose penalties effectively.

Adding strata committee mandatory training to the list of requirements would stretch enforcement resources even further. In practice, many strata committees would simply ignore the rule, knowing that there are no real consequences for non compliance. This would further erode trust in strata governance, as strata owners come to see training as an empty mandate with no real impact and untrained strata committees continue to run strata buildings.

Additionally, a ‘one size fits all’ strata committee training requirement may not suit the diverse range of people serving on strata committees. Long term strata committee members with years of experience may resist being forced to undergo formal training, viewing it as bureaucratic interference rather than a helpful resource. This could further fuel resentment and resistance to compliance.

Plus, it seems very unlikely that regulators would want the political impacts or consequences of enforcing compulsory strata committee member training [including by prosecutions or fines] against volunteer strata owners.

A MORE PRACTICAL APPROACH: INCENTIVES OVER PUNISHMENT

Rather than enforcing compulsory strata committee member training, a more effective approach would be to encourage voluntary participation by making training more accessible and attractive.

So, policymakers should consider the following and other ideas.

• Offering financial incentives for trained strata committee members, such as discounted strata levies or government grants for strata buildings where all strata committee members complete training [such as free Strata Hub annual fees].

• Providing free or low cost training options, ensuring accessibility for all strata committee members.

• Introducing targeted training for specific roles, such as requiring the chairperson, secretary and treasurer to complete training, rather than all strata committee members.

• Promoting public awareness campaigns that highlight the benefits of training without making it compulsory and showcasing training snippets and ‘good news’ case studies and testimonials.

By focusing on education, accessibility, and incentives, strata policymakers can improve governance standards without creating the unintended negative consequences of compulsory strata committee member training.

CONCLUSIONS

Compulsory training for strata committee members may seem like a logical way to improve governance, but the reality is far more complex. Instead of achieving better decision making and compliance, the policy is likely, in my opinion, to result in the following.

• A downward spiral of declining participation, with fewer people willing to serve on strata committees, leading to overworked volunteers and more dysfunctional governance in strata buildings.

• The collapse of the strata committee training programs, which don’t exist yet, as declining participation makes them commercially unviable, unsupported and increasingly irrelevant.

• Mass non-compliance, where strata committee members ignore the rule and regulators lack the resources or political motivations to enforce it, further undermining confidence in the strata system.

A more effective solution would be to encourage voluntary strata committee member [and strata owner] training through incentives and accessibility rather than punishment. By making training beneficial rather than burdensome, policymakers can achieve better strata governance outcomes without driving people away from strata committees or creating rules that are widely ignored.

If the goal is to create better informed strata committee members, strata owners and residents and, consequently, better managed strata buildings, compulsory training is not the answer.

So, sorry to rain on the strata title sector solutions parade over making strata committee training compulsory.

March 18, 2025

Francesco ...

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