straita

Disputes & NCAT

How do I resolve a strata parking dispute?

Short answer

Most parking disputes come down to the scheme’s parking by-laws. Report unauthorised parking to the committee or strata manager, who can enforce the by-law through a notice to comply. If it can’t be resolved, it can go to NSW Fair Trading mediation or NCAT.

Start with the by-laws

Whether someone can park where, and what happens if they don’t, is set by your scheme’s by-laws — visitor parking, allocated spaces, and any rules about vehicles on common property. Before treating parking as a dispute, check what the by-laws actually say, because that’s what any enforcement will rest on.

Reporting and enforcement

If someone parks in your allocated spot, misuses visitor parking, or leaves a vehicle on common property against the by-laws:

  1. Report it to the committee or strata manager, in writing, with details — spot, date, vehicle, and photos if you have them.
  2. The owners corporation can act by serving a notice to comply on the person breaching the by-law (section 146 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015).
  3. Repeat breaches can be taken to NCAT, which can order the conduct to stop and impose a penalty set by the Act.

Towing — follow the rules

Towing a vehicle isn’t a free-for-all. Removing a vehicle from common property is subject to signage and process requirements, and getting it wrong can expose the scheme to liability. Don’t arrange a tow off your own bat — it’s a decision for the owners corporation, following the correct process, not something an individual owner should organise.

When to escalate

If a parking problem is a one-off, the notice-to-comply route usually settles it. If it’s an ongoing dispute — a persistent offender, or a disagreement over the by-laws themselves — Fair Trading mediation or an NCAT application can resolve it with a binding outcome.

Keeping parking clean

Parking disputes escalate when there’s no clear record of who reported what and whether a notice was ever issued. A scheme running on Straita logs parking complaints and the notices that follow in one dated place, so recurring offenders are easy to show and enforcement follows the correct steps if a matter has to go further.

Primary sources