Before November 30, the model by-laws that owners could choose to adopt featured a built-in clause that banned pets. If an owner wanted to allow pets in their property (the objectively correct choice, imo), they needed to alter the by-laws themselves.
In the new set, all that talk about banning pets has been eliminated. Of course, apartment owners can still choose to ban pets in their by-laws, but the go-to set of regulations now offered by the government essentially says “animals are fab, bring ’em in.”
If the fam next door isn’t keen on the scent of your dart or succulent balcony meal wafting into their living room, they can take it up with the owners corp. They can issue you with notices to cut it out, but if you don’t, you could be up for a tribunal visit and a $1100 fine – double what it previously was.
So, the lesson to be learned here is that you should probably keep the smoke to a minimum, and ask your property’s owner if they’ll consider changing their pet ban by-law. I, for one, just moved into a place with a corgi (can you tell?), and I am personally stoked the option may be open to more of y’all soon.
Source: news.com.au / New South Wales Strata Management.
Photo: Carl Court / Getty.