Questions and answers

What is the Public Notices & Disputes Register?

The Public Notices & Disputes Register is a public register where people record sworn accounts of owners corporation disputes, and where anyone can search those accounts.

Where does it start?

We are building an Australia-wide register, and Victoria is where it starts. The register opens state by state. Register your interest and we will tell you when it opens in your state.

Who can lodge a notice?

Anyone who is a party to a dispute with or about an owners corporation can lodge a notice: an owner, an occupier such as a tenant, a contractor or service provider, a buyer with a contract to purchase, or the owners corporation itself.

What does a notice need?

A statutory declaration and at least one document tied to the dispute, such as a letter of demand or a tribunal application reference. A person checks every notice before it shows.

Can the building or business named in a notice respond?

Yes. The named party can give one factual reply of about 150 words, and the reply is always shown with the notice.

Does the register comment on notices?

No. The register does not argue with anyone, rank buildings or comment on any notice.

What does it cost?

During the Victorian launch period, lodging a notice is free. Searching is free. Replying is free. Removing or correcting your own notice is free. Any change to lodging fees will be announced on this page in advance. Businesses will be able to subscribe to be told when a notice is lodged on a building they nominate. Prices will be published when subscriptions open.

If a building has no notices, does that mean it has no problems?

No. An empty result means nobody has lodged a notice, not that there are no disputes.

The owners corporation already issues a certificate. What does the register add?

Victorian law requires an owners corporation certificate to disclose the owners corporation's liabilities and contingent liabilities (costs that might become debts if something happens), repairs or other work about to be done that may add charges, and any circumstances it is aware of that are likely to lead to proceedings. The certificate is prepared by the manager or the committee from what they judged relevant and chose to record. A buyer has no way to check whether everything the owners corporation knew made it onto the page. The register is where the other party to a dispute puts their sworn account on the public record, so a buyer can see whether the two tell the same story.

What happens when a building with a published notice is put up for sale?

PNDR's technology watches property listings across Australia, starting with Victoria. When a building with a published notice on pndr.au is listed for sale, PNDR sends the same short message, where it can reach them, to the agent, the solicitors acting in the sale, the owners and the owners corporation's manager: a published notice exists, and here is where to read it. The seller can bring the certificate in the contract up to date; the buyer reads the record before signing. No comment, no opinion, no fee. Notices to the parties begin once our legal review of the message is done.

I have a dispute now. What can I do before lodging opens?

Register your matter. We ask your role, the building's postcode and name or address, the kind of dispute, and how to reach you. We do not ask who the dispute is with or what happened, and nothing from the form is published. A person contacts you within two business days.

Can I be told when a notice is lodged on a building?

Yes. Watch a building, free. We email you when a notice is lodged, replied to or resolved on it, and every email has a link to stop.

Is Strata Sales Watcher aimed at committees and managers?

No. It serves them as much as any buyer. Not every committee knows what has to go on a certificate; PNDR puts the lodged record in front of committee members before a sale proceeds, so they can consider it and make an informed judgement. Managers are not always given every piece of information; when a matter is lodged, they can reconcile it against their own records before the certificate goes out, and go into it with the fullest picture available.

I am named in a notice. What can I do?

Reply, free of charge, and your reply is published beside the notice. You are told before a notice is published and have fourteen days. If something in a notice is wrong, report a problem and a person acts on it within seven days.