Are owners required to opt in to receive levy notices and other documents by email?
In this month’s Strata Q&A, we received a question from Kiara H from Western Australia, who asked whether their strata manager can insist that all owners opt into receiving their levy notices and other documents by email rather than by post.
Q. Are owners required to opt in to receive levy notices and other documents by email?
My strata manager wants all owners to receive strata notices and documents by email only. I’m not very comfortable with that and prefer paper. Can they insist that everything is sent by email, or do I still have a right to receive hard-copy notices?
A. A strata manager can offer email notices, but they cannot make you switch to email.
In Western Australia, your strata manager cannot simply insist that all owners receive strata notices and documents only by email. Under the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA), an owner has to give written consent before electronic service (including email) can be used as the official method of delivering notices.
If you haven’t agreed in writing or clearly nominated an email address for service, the strata company (also known as the owners corporation/body corporate/unit plan) is still required to send you notices in the traditional way, usually as hard-copy documents by post to your address for service. Until you consent to email, postal service remains the default and legally safe method.
Many strata managers encourage email because it is faster, cheaper, and easier to manage, especially for large schemes or those with frequent notices. However, email remains optional, not compulsory. If you prefer to keep receiving paper notices, you are entitled to do so, provided you have not agreed to electronic delivery.
The one thing to keep in mind is that printing and postage can add to the running costs of the scheme. Your strata company may legitimately pass on higher administration costs to the owners as part of the budget, which could indirectly increase levies over time. Even so, that doesn’t remove your right to receive hard-copy documents if you have not consented to email delivery.
In short, a strata manager can offer and recommend email notices, but they cannot force you to switch to email unless you’ve agreed in writing.
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