Everyone Received the Notice. But Did Everyone Understand It?
A notice can be legally delivered and still leave some owners unsure about a major decision. STRATA IQ Academy examines the difference between compliance and effective participation.
A meeting notice is sent. The agenda is attached. The required information is included. The Owners Corporation has carried out the formal notice process.
But now imagine a significant number of owners are unfamiliar with English and cannot easily follow the motions, financial statements or proposed works.
Did everybody receive the information? Perhaps yes. Did everybody understand what they were being asked to vote on? That is a different question.
A NSW strata question published in October 2026 involved a scheme in which approximately 45% of owners reportedly did not speak English. The question was whether notices and minutes must be translated. The publicly discussed legal position is that NSW strata legislation does not impose a general requirement to translate every notice, agenda or minute simply because some owners do not speak English. However, schemes must still comply with the applicable notice, meeting and record-keeping requirements.
The practical learning goes beyond the minimum notice process.
Compliance is the starting point
A scheme can meet its formal notice obligations and still ask whether it is communicating as effectively as it could. Clear participation matters particularly when owners face proposed special levies, major repairs, insurance expenditure or important by-law changes.
This does not mean a strata committee must commission a full translation of every document. It means asking what practical measures are proportionate and useful.
Five ways to make participation easier
- Use plain-English motion summaries. Explain the decision being requested and its practical impact without changing the legal meaning of the motion.
- Identify key amounts and dates. State the proposed expenditure, funding method, due dates and next steps prominently.
- Offer help with important documents. Where appropriate, provide translated summaries, language assistance or a point of contact for questions, while retaining the official notice and resolution text.
- Explain how to participate. Remind owners about attendance, proxies, electronic or pre-meeting voting arrangements where available.
- Record the formal decision properly. Accessible communication supplements — it does not replace — correctly issued notices, motions, minutes or the voting process.
The STRATA IQ takeaway
Delivered is not the same as understood.
A better question for committees is not only, “Did we send the notice?” It is also, “Have we given people a fair opportunity to understand the decision?”
The goal is not more paperwork. It is clearer participation and decisions that owners can understand, even when they do not agree with the outcome.
STRATA IQ AcademyHow is easy when you know the why.
NSW Government guidance and the cited industry commentary reviewed 25 October 2026. Direct retrieval of the current Act was unavailable for this review; the legislation itself has not been independently rechecked in full. STRATA IQ Academy is an independent education provider and does not represent a government entity. General NSW strata education, not legal advice. Check current legislation, scheme records and the authority for the particular decision. The reported 45% figure comes from a LookUpStrata reader question published 23 October 2026; it is not Academy research.
Turn the explanation into practice.
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