OCN Executive Director, Author at Owners Corporation Network

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So far OCN Executive Director has created 137 blog entries.

‘Confidence is waning’: New strata commissioner’s urgent task to support high-rise city

OCN Executive Director2024-02-05T15:39:47+11:00

2 FEBRUARY 2024 A plan to build millions of apartments across Sydney will falter without major changes to the laws underpinning ownership and management of the properties, the state’s new strata commissioner warns. “The whole issue around housing supply, around affordability, and ultimately social and economic wellbeing, requires strata to be successful and requires people to have confidence in strata, and I guess the concern is there are areas where confidence [...]

‘Confidence is waning’: New strata commissioner’s urgent task to support high-rise cityOCN Executive Director2024-02-05T15:39:47+11:00

NSW Fire Safety Reforms

OCN Executive Director2024-01-30T16:44:51+11:00

23 JANUARY 2024 OCN made a submission on the proposed reforms to fire safety regulations in NSW. Read submission:> OCN Submission - Fire Safety Reforms January 2024 Related content:> https://ocn.org.au/product/fire-safety-by-law-proforma/

NSW Fire Safety ReformsOCN Executive Director2024-01-30T16:44:51+11:00

IPART Review of Embedded Networks in NSW

OCN Executive Director2024-01-30T15:54:35+11:00

OCN made a submission on the protections needed for strata owners and tenants where developers install an embedded network. Read submission:>OCN Submission - IPART Draft Report on Embedded Networks January 2024 Related content:> https://ocn.org.au/inquiry-into-embedded-networks-in-nsw/

IPART Review of Embedded Networks in NSWOCN Executive Director2024-01-30T15:54:35+11:00

Australian Consumer Law & Owners Corporations

OCN Executive Director2024-01-25T15:28:28+11:00

22 JANUARY 2024 OCN wrote to Federal, State and Territory Consumer Affairs Ministers, asking them to identify and address gaps in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) insofar as they apply to owners corporations. Gaps in the ACL leave owners corporations, lot owners and tenants at a significant disadvantage in their dealings with businesses, including developers and strata/owners corporation managers. The ACL provides that unfair terms of a consumer or a small [...]

Australian Consumer Law & Owners CorporationsOCN Executive Director2024-01-25T15:28:28+11:00

Chinese developer ordered to fix defects in 900 apartment complex

OCN Executive Director2024-01-23T14:42:53+11:00

17 JANUARY 2024 People who bought into the Lachlan’s Line apartment complex in Sydney’s North were promised a “prestigious new community”. Now they’ve discovered the basement floors in all four blocks are at risk of collapse. Karen Stiles, executive director of the advocacy group Owners Corporation Network welcomed the order which follows increased scrutiny of apartment developments. The Macquarie Park apartment’s car parks on the basement level are at risk of [...]

Chinese developer ordered to fix defects in 900 apartment complexOCN Executive Director2024-01-23T14:42:53+11:00

OCN Talks Short Term Letting with 2GB’s Bill Woods

OCN Executive Director2023-12-11T12:33:12+11:00

11 DECEMBER 2023 Following a report of people renting multiple properties in order to sub-let on the short term market, Bill Woods dug a little deeper. Do landlords know if their property is being short term let? How can they find out if it's being short term let? What can governments do to curb the commodification of housing? All will be revealed! Listen to the interview:> Related content:> https://ocn.org.au/ocn-opinion-piece-short-term-letting-nsw-government-backs-airbnb-in-final-policy/

OCN Talks Short Term Letting with 2GB’s Bill WoodsOCN Executive Director2023-12-11T12:33:12+11:00

Treacy left Mascot Towers four years ago. Now she’s $1m in debt and has brain tumours

OCN Executive Director2023-12-07T14:44:55+11:00

7 DECEMBER 2023 Desperate apartment owners in Sydney’s notorious Mascot Towers are appealing for the state government to buy their defect-riddled building after the NSW Supreme Court slammed shut the gate on their last-ditch exit strategy. The apartment owners’ peak organisation, the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), is also calling for action. Executive director Karen Stiles said: “The OCN has sadly witnessed the four-and-a-half-year Mascot Towers debacle, caused by wholesale regulatory failure. [...]

Treacy left Mascot Towers four years ago. Now she’s $1m in debt and has brain tumoursOCN Executive Director2023-12-07T14:44:55+11:00

Owners Corporation Network Getting on Top of e-bike Fire Risk with Expert Webinar

OCN Executive Director2023-12-05T13:28:41+11:00

4 DECEMBER 2023 Sunday's e-bicycle battery fire in an apartment is the most recent of several this year. OCN, which represents and supports apartment owners and residents, has been researching best practice in protecting its members from this developing risk. “We have engaged with experts including EV Firesafe, an Australian company funded by the Department of Defence, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), the Electric Vehicle Council and taken advice from [...]

Owners Corporation Network Getting on Top of e-bike Fire Risk with Expert WebinarOCN Executive Director2023-12-05T13:28:41+11:00

Protecting Consumers From Unfair Trade Practices

OCN Executive Director2024-04-05T13:02:31+11:00

29 NOVEMBER 2023OCN was proud to sign onto the Consumer Policy Research Centre joint consumer submission on unfair trade practices - Make Unfair Illegal. There are a range of practices that cause consumer harm, and are detrimental to the competitive process, that are not currently unlawful. In the strata world these include embedded networks and obfuscation around insurance premiums. It's time to level the playing field! Read full submission:> https://cprc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Submission-Unfair-trade-practices-Treasury-November-2023.pdf Related content:> https://ocn.org.au/inquiry-into-embedded-networks-in-nsw-ocn-testimony/ Related content:> [...]

Protecting Consumers From Unfair Trade PracticesOCN Executive Director2024-04-05T13:02:31+11:00

NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Batteries

OCN Executive Director2023-12-05T10:17:05+11:00

24 NOVEMBER 2023 The perception that Electric vehicles create a significant new risk from a fire safety standpoint has some history and has been widely covered in the media. The ACCC undertook an investigation recently into Lithium-Ion battery safety, which OCN supports: https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Lithium-ion%20Batteries%20report_3_0.pdf There are several perspectives to this issue worth exploring, which have a bearing on the nature of the risks, and the appropriate responses from government. OCN’s response is [...]

NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Electric and Hybrid Vehicle BatteriesOCN Executive Director2023-12-05T10:17:05+11:00

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