Publications & News

So a lot owners issues an application at VCAT making various complaints about the conduct of the Owners Corporation and or the manager (or both) as well as about committee members. To be clear, the lot owner is just not happy with a range of issues. The Owners Corporation (OC) is notified of the proceedings.   What should the OC do next? Sometimes the issue is a lack of communication. The lot owner might only...

What is the case about? The dispute concerns the apportionment of expenses between Owners Corporations in a large residential development with 5 Owners Corporations. The applicant lot owners contend that costs have been unfairly allocated to Owners Corporation No. 1 (“OC1”) when the 4 limited Owners Corporations are receiving a benefit for which they are not making a proper contribution. The subdivision is known as Toorak Park in Armadale. It has 474 residential lots, made...

The recent decision of the Full Court of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia in Han & Han, delivered in March 2026, highlights that: After the breakdown of a de facto relationship/marriage, where there are court proceedings on property division, debts to family members will be heavily scrutinised and if the court finds that the debt will never realistically be enforced, it can be excluded from assessment of the asset pool to be...

In Part 1 of this series, we covered the Security of Payment reforms that took effect on 15 April 2026. Those changes are already in force and apply broadly across active construction projects in Victoria, subject to transitional provisions. But they are only part of the story.   Alongside the Fairer Payments Act, further building reform packages legislated in 2025 are scheduled to commence progressively through 2026. In addition, the Building and Plumbing Administration and...