7–Aug–2026
Northmarque
This article gives owners a clear picture of where records live, how they are managed and the processes for accessing them. We also want to outline the work we have been doing to improve the scheme’s record-keeping.
What records exist
As you can imagine, a scheme established in 2012 has a lot of records. At the moment, there are three main locations for the older records:
- Records held by BC Systems as our body corporate manager. These also include records back to 2015 from previous body corporate managers.
- The records that were in cloud storage on Google Workspace. These date back to at least 2017.
- The searchable archive of nearly 13,000 emails since 2022 that was built by the current committee.
Each of these locations has important information. We will address each one in turn.
Records held by BC Systems
BC Systems holds the majority of the scheme’s records. They were formally engaged as our manager at the annual general meeting in April 2026, and what they hold is largely what was handed to them: the records transferred when they took over from Hartley’s, which in turn included records Hartley’s had received from the managers before them.
The biggest issue with all of it is paper. No previous manager has ever digitised the boxes and boxes of information, so it has simply been passed from one to the next. More about this later.
Cloud storage
When this committee took over, we discovered that a significant number of official body corporate records were held on cloud storage in Google Workspace that was only accessible to the committee. Owners generally did not have access to these files. There is 60 gigabytes of data, which is more than 50,000 A4 pages if we printed it all! So what we are trying to do is sort through it all, put it in order and then move it to accessible locations where possible.
Email archive
All email back to 2022 is now archived in one system and is able to be searched effectively. We have already been able to locate records in the email archive that did not exist anywhere else. As anyone who gets more than 20 emails a day can attest to, finding stuff can be tricky. Imagine trying to locate a record in 13,000 emails! We will be working to get as much as possible out of the email archive and into accessible locations, but it is not a small task.
The quiet bit out loud
The other place that things will be is in owners’ emails. All the things committees have sent out over the years. The only reason we mention this is because at some stage, we might ask really nicely if people can dig through inboxes for particular things. Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to dig through all your emails like we are – more like a targeted search for something specific.
Getting hold of records
What you already receive
Whether or not you ever open the portal, every owner is sent:
- notification of each committee meeting, at the same time it goes to committee members
- the notice paper for each meeting, setting out the business to be considered
- advice of every vote outside committee, at the time it is issued to the committee for ballot
- the minutes of every committee meeting, within 21 days of the meeting
These go out by email through a system that records delivery, and each one is also published on the Northmarque website. If you are not receiving them, let the secretary know and we will check the address we hold for you on the roll.
The owner portal
The portal does not currently show everything, and there are two reasons for that.
BC Systems have told us they are still working through the documents they have already received, and that a number are still to be loaded. Separately — and this is the bigger one — a large volume of the scheme’s older records exists only on paper and has never been digitised by anyone. That includes paper records going back to 2015 that came to BC Systems from previous managers, along with the physical files handed over in the transition.
This is a big job and it will take time. It is not a case of anything being withheld. They are boxes in storage that nobody has ever scanned.
If you have never used the portal, or cannot get in, contact the secretary by email and we will get you set up. Every owner is entitled to access.
The Northmarque website
Everything the committee issues also goes on the website at northmarque.net. That is deliberate, and it is worth explaining why.
Body corporate managers change. This scheme has had several, and every change means a handover. Handovers are where things go missing — not usually through anyone’s bad intent, but because records move between different systems, formats and filing habits, and every move is a chance for something to fall through the gap.
If the only copy of the scheme’s history sits with whoever the manager happens to be at the time, then the body corporate is one difficult transition away from losing it. We would rather not be in that position, and no owner should have to rely on it.
So the aim is straightforward: the records exist with the manager, on the website, and in the committee’s own archive. More than one copy, in more than one place, under more than one party’s control. If any one of them fails, nothing is lost.
What is available and what is not
The portal and website carry the scheme’s governance records — meeting notifications, notice papers, minutes, budgets, policies and the like. What will not be included on either is anything containing an individual owner’s personal or financial details, material the body corporate holds under legal privilege, or anything it would be a breach of the law to publish.
That is not about withholding anything. Those records still exist and remain part of the body corporate’s records, and in almost every case any owner can obtain them through the section 205 process described below. The narrow exceptions are set by law, not by the committee.
The reason is straightforward. If you fall behind on a levy, or there is a dispute involving your lot, or the body corporate takes legal advice on a matter you are part of, none of that belongs on a page anyone can open — and that includes other owners. The same rule applies to everyone, with very few exceptions.
Asking for something specific
If you are after a particular document, ask the committee first. More often than not we can simply send it to you.
Where you want to formally inspect the body corporate’s records, the mechanism is section 205 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. That is a written request accompanied by the prescribed fee, and it can be made to the committee or directly to BC Systems.
What happens next
Digitising the paper
We have asked BC Systems to quote for digitising and uploading the entire historical archive — the paper files going back to 2015 that have been handed from one manager to the next.
Nothing in the legislation requires the body corporate to do this. We have asked because owners should be able to find the scheme’s history in one place, and because scanning on its own is not enough. A scanned page that cannot be searched is not much better than a box in a warehouse; you still have to know exactly what you are looking for and where it is. So the work needs to produce documents that are searchable and indexed, not just uploaded.
In addition, we will be asking for copies of all those digital files and uploading them to the northmarque.net website as well. By doing that, those records survive body corporate manager changes and it serves as an additional backup. Both really good things. This committee will continue to supply records to BC Systems and upload them to the website as well.
We expect to consider the quote at the committee meeting on 18 August 2026, and we will report back to owners on what it covers and what it costs.
The annual general meeting
Motions about records and the portal have been submitted for the AGM by owners. They will be dealt with in the AGM papers in the usual way, along with all the other owner motions received and the usual committee motions.
Reporting back
The records program has been running since this committee took office, and it will keep running for a while yet. A review of the scheme’s historical motions and minutes showed how much of the record sits in undigitised paper, and how little of it is indexed or searchable. Closing that gap is a large part of what the digitisation work is for, and there is more to do.
We will report progress as we go. If you have questions in the meantime, the committee is the place to send them.