DISPUTE JUSTICE MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE

Up to 500,000 community-living Queenslanders will have affordable access to dispute resolution processes under legislation passed by Parliament today.

Fair Trading Minister Margaret Keech said the Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill would accelerate the resolution of disputes and minimise the likelihood of future problems.

“The Bill will improve communication between the parties in dispute, providing the means to reach agreement rather than having decisions imposed on them,” Mrs Keech said.

“We expect people in dispute to initially make a reasonable attempt to resolve the problem within their body corporate.

“We believe proper use of internal dispute resolution processes will reduce disputation in a body corporate, and limit the need for formal government intervention.

“The Bill allows for departmental conciliation to be conducted by the Body Corporate and Community Management Office.

“This will facilitate prompt and informal resolution of disputes and encourage parties to arrive at their own resolutions and agreements in line with the self-management focus of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act

“For most body corporate disputes, conciliation will be compulsory before an application is made for adjudication.”

Mrs Keech said a person’s right to affordable and accessible justice had also been improved.

“Our review of the Act revealed stakeholder concerns that many body corporate disputes were only determined by a specialist adjudicator or the District Court,” she said.

“The Bill extends the jurisdiction of the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal (CCT) to determine complex disputes, currently resolved compulsorily by specialist adjudication, or by the District Court.

“The CCT already deals with a range of complex commercial and consumer matters and is a viable and accessible means of alleviating concerns about the costs of specialist adjudication, and the costs and formality of District Court proceedings.

“The CCT will also hear appeals of orders made by adjudicators, rather than the District Court as is currently the case.”

Media contacts: Jo Gibbons 3224 2007 or David Smith 3225 1005