Published in the media
OCN''s Queensland Director, Chris Irons explained the Tribunal's decision over a second pesky fridge on an owner's balcony Listen to the interview here
A new challenge has emerged for Owners Corporations managing apartment buildings and strata complexes. As EV ownership increases, these bodies are facing growing difficulties securing insurance coverage that adequately addresses the perceived fire risks associated with electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure. Fred Tuckwell, chair of the Owners Corporation Network advocacy group, notes that attitudes toward EV charging within Australia’s 1.2 million strata committees often follow broader political trends, creating additional [...]
OCN''s Victorian Director, Dr Janette Corcoran calls for the City of Melbourne to consider the realities faced by the thousands of existing strata buildings that are already home for the majority of the city’s residents. If you live in a high-rise, now is the time to speak up. The more the council hears that residential strata – and how this operates – matter, the more likely we are to see real [...]
OCN's David Glover speaks to Maggie Raworth about the growing trend of developers installing embedded networks in new apartment buildings. They are routinely left with lengthy, expensive contracts that are difficult to negotiate or terminate. Worse, the apartment owners may not even own the infrastructure or benefit from energy produced. But they're required to maintain and repair it. https://youtu.be/UwKnlxEttTY
What happened when a husband-and-wife strata owner requested approval for EV charging next to their basement car park? In this recent case in Queensland, they were denied – a decision upheld by an adjudicator. It’s a significant case for owners everywhere and highlights the challenges around EV approvals in strata. Read the case here, and then, click the link below, listen to OCN Board Director and Joint Managing Director Chris Irons [...]
Investors looking to purchase apartments are being advised to exercise extra caution in light of a new report indicating that nearly half of Australia’s strata buildings are over 25 years old, with a growing need for maintenance and upgrades. “You wouldn’t buy shares in a company without first looking into it and the foundations it was built on, so you shouldn’t buy an apartment without doing the proper research either. “That [...]
Consumer groups are warning that the current soft insurance market may open the door to remuneration practices that could disadvantage clients unless regulators step in. The Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby Inc (ACIL) has called on oversight bodies – including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and the Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee – to monitor how brokers adjust their pay structures during market [...]
Apartment owners in Sydney’s south are voicing outrage after discovering they’re being billed for electricity generated by solar panels on their own building’s roof. Ron Wilson speaks to Karen Stiles about embedded network traps for the unwary purchaser (or renter). Listen to interview:> https://omny.fm/shows/ronwilson/karen-stiles-solar-energy-agreements-07-05-25 Related interview of embedded network consultant:> https://omny.fm/shows/ronwilson/joseph-arena-arena-energy-consultings-principal-managing-director-08-05-25
Angry apartment owners say they’re being charged for electricity generated by solar panels on their own roof thanks to a confidential agreement signed between their developer and the energy provider. When they moved into the new Dwell building in Sutherland, in Sydney’s south, they assumed the solar would help with their common property electricity bills. Instead, they’ve just been presented with a surprise bill for $28,717.06 for the past 12 months, [...]
The Owners Corporation Network of Australia says aspects of the $2 billion strata insurance market raise questions on ethics in the broking industry and the role and performance of the code. Its submission to the industry’s code review notes ABC reporting last year examined issues such as common ownership of underwriting agencies and brokers, and lack of transparency. The network says the code does not articulate what represents a conflict of interest and [...]
Owners Corporation Network
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To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email enquiries@ocn.org.au
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
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We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to enquiries@ocn.org.au
