2024 All Media: Business Journalism

Linton Besser and Ninah Kopel’s investigation into the strata industry revealed a sector rife with conflicts of interest and secret kickbacks. On 7.30, with the help of whistleblowers, including one senior former manager who agreed to appear on camera, Besser and Kopel reported that high-profile firm Netstrata had been taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from contractors hired with apartment owners’ money.

Netstrata had also been using a subsidiary company to charge insurance broking fees three times the market rate, while failing to disclose those fees to its clients. Despite written assurances to unit owners that brokerage fees were not flowing back to Netstrata, the ABC confirmed they were – and had totalled $21 million in the past nine years.

Managing director Stephen Brell was forced to confirm Netstrata had been taking kickbacks, and conceded his company had failed in its fiduciary duties. Within hours, Brell was forced to stand down as the state president of the industry peak body. In June 2024, the NSW government unveiled legislative reforms to ensure ‘real time’ disclosure of some commissions and the banning of others, while tightening oversight and beefing up enforcement.