“Executive committees are a bunch of self-serving control freaks who wouldn’t know strata law from the offside rule in soccer and just want to interfere in other people’s lives, or some one popular view has it” the Sydney Morning Herald recently quoted. But how much truth is there in this statement?

The Sydney Morning Herald recently ran an article about UNSW’s report “Governing the Compact City”. The City Futures report was launched by Minister for Fair Trading – Anthony Roberts on 21 May.

More than 1 in 10 Australians currently live in strata homes and the effective management of these schemes is essential for their well-being. Drawing on the experience of 1,550 NSW strata owners, managers and peak body representatives, the report comprehensively documents the challenges faced in effective strata management and provides an evidence base to inform future reforms in this area.

The 'Governing the Compact City' report presents findings from multi-year research funded by the Australian Research Council, in partnership with NSW Fair Trading, NSW Land and Property Information, Strata Community Australia, the Owners Corporation Network of Australia, Macquarie Bank and Lannock Strata Finance.

Authored by a City Futures team led by Dr Hazel Easthope, the report can be accessed here .