New laws, new problems, new risks and an ever increasing stock of strata buildings. Strata in 2026 brings new liabilities. With reforms to the Strata Schemes Management Act, tougher Fair Trading powers, and landmark WHS prosecutions confirming owners corporations as PCBUs and you need to be across it all plus more. Address these developments plus gain practical strategies to advise, draft and mitigate exposure in a rapidly evolving statutory and regulatory framework for Strata buildings.
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Early Bird Discount ends 19 Dec 2025
9.00am to 9.50am NSW Strata Reforms: Early Lessons from the 2025 Strata Reforms and a Review of Further Reforms to Come
- Key changes
- New duties
- Expanded transparency and disclosure requirements for commissions, conflicts of interest, and related party transactions for strata managers
Presented by Elly Ashley, Partner, Holding Redlich; Accredited Specialist in Property Law; Deputy Chair of the UDIA NSW Strata and Building Regulations Committee and Olivia Eum, Special Counsel, Holding Redlich
9.50am to 10.35am Defects in Focus: 2025 Strata Reforms and Pafburn are Reshaping Liability for Builders, Developers and Owners Corporations
- How the 2025 strata reforms extend repair and maintenance duties and impact defect liability
- Limitation period adjustments and the ripple effects of the Pafburn v The Owners – Strata Plan No 95823 decision on ongoing liability
- Allocating risk between developers, builders and owners corporations
- Strategies to mitigate exposure
- Insurance coverage, and post-completion maintenance programs
- Managing emerging defect risks from EV chargers, embedded networks, and smart-building systems
Presented by Anthony Herron, Special Counsel, PCL Lawyers
Chair:
Tamir Maltz, Barrister, 12 Wentworth Selborne
10.50am to 11.35am Fair Contract Principles and their Role in Reshaping Strata Law
- Application of the Australian Consumer Law’s unfair contract term provisions to strata contracts from 1 July 2025
- Identifying and eliminating problematic clauses in building management and maintenance contracts
- Drafting practices to avoid “significant imbalance” and ensure legitimate interests are protected
- Interplay between contractual terms and statutory duties under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)
- Unfair contract enforcement in the strata sector
Presented by Allison Benson, Principal, Kerin Benson Lawyers
10.35am to 10.50am Morning Tea
11.35am to 12.20pm Duty to Repair and Maintain in Leasing: Recent Case Law Update
Take a deep dive into recent leasing and strata case law clarifying the scope of landlords’ and tenants’ obligations to repair, maintain, and make good. The discussion will highlight practical risks and strategies for practitioners advising strata managers, landlords, and commercial tenants.
Presented by Ian McKnight, Special Counsel, Pobi Lawyers
12.20pm to 1.15pm WHS Risks in Strata: Responding to Critical Incidents and Protecting Legal Rights
- Identifying key WHS risks unique to strata
- Obligations and potential liabilities for owners corporations, strata managers and contractors
- Responding to critical incidents: immediate steps and legal considerations
- Strategies to protect legal rights and mitigate exposure
Presented by Bill Kritharas, Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is based on NSW legislation
Presenters
Ian McKnight, Special Counsel, Pobi LawyersIan McKnight is a Practice Group leader and widely regarded as a doyen of strata law in New South Wales. His standing has been earned over the course of a 43 year career bestriding property law and strata management. Unique amongst property lawyers, Ian is a genuine specialist. Strata and community title law is not a part time pursuit, it forms the core of his day-to-day legal practice. He brings firsthand experience of the strata challenges to his advice from his time as a director of a corporate strata management firm. A sought after keynote speaker, Ian provides regular education sessions to the Real Estate Institute of Australia and on occasion to Strata Community Australia. He publishes widely on the subject of strata law. Ian counts among his clients strata managing agents, owners corporations, developers, building managers, property professionals, real estate investors and regulators.
Olivia Eum, Special Counsel, Holding Redlich
Olivia is an Accredited Specialist in property law. She specialises in property development, including advising on strata and community schemes, acting on the acquisition and disposal of development sites and managing off-the-plan sales.
Anthony Herron, Special Counsel, PCL Lawyers
Anthony is an experienced construction and contracts lawyer. He has advised on a range of major construction projects and drafted a variety of construction contracts, tender documents and supply agreements and associated documents for commercial and mixed-use developments, aged care & hospitality facilities, storage & infrastructure projects in NSW, ACT, QLD & WA. He also has experience in advising regarding professional indemnity and liability insurance issues including construction and liability claims against building contractors, engineers and certifiers.
Allison Benson, Principal, Kerin Benson Lawyers
Allison is a strata & community titles lawyer who has provided general advice, acted in disputes, including building defect disputes, and worked with clients in preparing and enforcing by-laws and strata management statements since 2008. Allison acts on behalf of owners corporations, associations and lot owners in respect of providing advice and acting in strata and community association disputes of all types. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers and has a blog Thoughts From a Strata Lawyer at www.allisonbensonau.com
Bill Kritharas, Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers
Bill is an experienced work health and safety (WHS) lawyer. He advises clients in the construction, agribusiness, energy and transport industries and commonwealth, state and local government sectors on WHS compliance, incident investigations, prosecutions and coronial inquests. Bill also advises builders and Owners Corporations in relation to fire safety and building defect claims. Bill assists Boards, legal counsel and WHS executives in the private and public sectors. Bill also assists Owners Corporations, engineers and Strata Managers.
Elly Ashley, Partner, Holding Redlich
Elly specialises in property development including advising in relation to strata and community schemes, preparing and developing appropriate governance title and subdivision structures and drafting master off-the-plan sales contracts and coordinating the sales process. Elly’s expertise includes acting for a number of major property developers to assist with residential and mixed-use development projects by advising in relation to the establishment of a strata scheme or community scheme, conversion and termination of strata schemes, compliance with the strata scheme and community scheme laws, drafting and negotiating section 88B instruments, by-laws and management statements for both strata and community schemes, site due diligence and acquisitions including acquisitions of crown land and rural land.
Tamir Maltz, Barrister, 12 Wentworth Selborne
Tamir is a commercial barrister. He works on business, property, and regulatory matters. Over more than 15 years he has accepted briefs to advise and appear in a broad range of sectors – in relation to corporate disputes as well as personal, strata, and family-business disputes. Tamir also has an interest in cyberlaw issues, and has been a member of the NSW Bar Association’s IT Committee (2019-2024). He previously worked as a management consultant at a global firm, and in the office of an Australian Federal Minister.
