00:00In March, 7.30 revealed Netstrata had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks
00:07from contractors hired with owners' money.
00:10It was also charging undisclosed brokerage fees for insurance at three times the market
00:16rate.
00:17I know today you've disclosed a few things here which again has made me feel really awkward.
00:21Last month, NSW Fair Trading launched an inquiry into Netstrata.
00:26I think it's time that there's meaningful change in our industry to rebuild trust and
00:31integrity.
00:32That inquiry is ongoing, but today the NSW Government announced it would reform the Strata
00:37industry.
00:38The ABC's investigation into Netstrata raised a number of concerns with me and that's why
00:44we want to move quickly on the areas that we can do to bring that trust and confidence
00:48back into the sector.
00:49The reforms include strengthening conflict of interest disclosures, banning agents from
00:54receiving some insurance commissions and larger financial penalties for malpractice.
01:00Today's announcement recognises that much of the industry's poor conduct has been perfectly
01:05legal until now.
01:06I've been in this industry for 26 years and these types of practices have been rife throughout
01:11the industry for all that time.
01:13In the past three months, the ABC has received thousands of complaints from unit owners describing
01:19an industry riddled with conflicts of interest and secret kickbacks.
01:24That's the scale of the task the NSW Government has ahead of it.
01:28The Government will now commence consultation with the industry and intends to introduce
01:32new legislation in August.
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