During Parliamentary Budget Estimates on Thursday 12 August 2021, I asked about resourcing or the Body Corporate and Community Management Commissioner, an issue my colleague Amy MacMahon has been working on.
You can read the answer below or in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Mr BERKMAN: Attorney-General, in light of media reports earlier this year that the body corporate and community management commissioner’s office had experienced a 33 per cent spike in complaints to adjudicate in the five years up to September last year, what consideration has the government given to the adequacy of funding for the office for the commission to perform its role?
Ms FENTIMAN: More and more Queenslanders are living in units and apartments and it is a really important area that we are focused on, and of course there is a whole range of legislative reform in this area. We have established a community titles working group to work through many of these issues. In relation to the body corporate community management office, despite significant increases in demand, I have to say that the office has done a tremendous job. They have actually minimised delays to clients by reviewing their internal processes and by taking a proactive approach to community engagement, so really parties are better assisted to manage issues without the need for dispute resolution. The office achieved a clearance rate of 97 per cent in 2019-20. For 2021 to May this year, notwithstanding COVID and a whole lot of challenges, they achieved a clearance rate of 93 per cent which is only slightly below their target of 95 per cent, so they have done a tremendous job. They have found really good ways of working. They are very efficient and I want to take the opportunity to thank the body corporate community management office. They finalised a record 1,644 applications and I note that the office will surpass this record again this financial year. They have a high quality of dispute services. Over 80 per cent of clients recommend the conciliation process and less than 0.5 per cent of adjudicators’ orders are overturned or altered on appeal. So, yes, they are busy, but they are managing to do a really great job within their existing resources, and for that I thank them.