New laws putting an end to blanket bans on animals in strata buildings came into effect last week (25 August).
Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson said the changes followed a detailed review of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and extensive public consultation focused on the keeping of animals in strata schemes.
“The new laws will also allow specific grounds where an owners’ corporation can refuse an owner from keeping an animal in a strata scheme or take steps to remove an existing animal from the scheme,” Mr Anderson said.
He said circumstances for refusal could include repeated damage of the common property; menacing behaviour; and/or persistent noise and odour.
The Minister said owners’ corporations would also be able to set reasonable conditions through their own by-laws on how pets were kept in their strata scheme.
“The new laws reflect broad community sentiment and demonstrate a balanced approach for both residents and owners’ corporations in keeping pets in strata,” Mr Anderson said.
“Research tells us that Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with 61 per cent of households including a pet in their family, and 91 per cent of households owning a pet at some point in their lives,” he said.
Further information on the new laws can be accessed on NSW Fair Trading’s website at this PS News link.
