Jason Carlson is a Partner at Chambers Russell Lawyers and an industry expert in strata and community titles law.
He was a director of Strata Community Association (Qld) from 2016 – 2022 and a director of Strata Community Association Australasia from 2022 – 2024. In 2022 he received the SCA (Qld) President’s Award in recognition of his significant contributions to, and leadership within, Queensland’s strata sector.
Jason has practiced exclusively in strata law since 2009 at industry leading strata law firms. His focus has been on dispute resolution, strategic advisory work and management rights disputes. He has led bodies corporate through some of the most significant pieces of strata litigation in Queensland over the last 15 years.
Jason has also served on the Legislation Committee of SCA (Qld) since 2013 and was its advocacy director from 2020 – 2022, playing a significant role in shaping, reviewing and advising on legislative changes to Queensland’s strata legislation.
Jason holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (majors: Philosophy and Psychology) from Griffith University. He is a regular presenter at strata conferences and a prolific contributor to strata education platforms.
His recent experience includes:
- Successfully acting for a residential body corporate concerned with the unlawful conduct of a short-term accommodation business by the holder of its management rights. When the body corporate refused to consent to a MCU application being made to regularise the use, the body corporate became a part of proceedings in the Planning & Environment Court to successfully defend its interests. See Spice Apartments Residential Management Pty Ltd ATF SARM Trust v Brisbane City Council & Body Corporate for Spice Apartments [2023] QPEC 2.
- Providing strategic advice to a residential body corporate who wished to restrict short-term letting of houses in its complex, and then successfully defending the validity of that by-law through successive appeals. See Redman v The Proprietors – Fairway Island [2020] QDC 68.
- Acting for a PBC and all of its subsidiary members of a large, layered scheme during a transfer of the management rights. This involved coordinating and holding the confidence of several committees to ensure their unique interests and concerns were addressed, while ensuring the transfer could occur within a satisfactory timeframe.
- Regularly acting for the bodies corporate of large integrated developments governed by Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980, Sanctuary Cove Resort Act 1985, Integrated Resort Act 1987 and the Mixed Use Development Act 1990 by giving strategic advices and acting in litigation before referees and the Courts. See Leslie v Buttner & Sanctuary Cove Principal Body Corporate [2022] QSC 131, The Proprietors – Rosebank GTP 3033 v Locke [2016] QCA 192, Cathedral Place Community Body Corporate v The Proprietors Cathedral Village BUP 106957 [2020] QCA 239, and Sanctuary Cove Principal Body Corporate [2020] QBCCMCmr 77.
- Acting for a body corporate to defend litigation brought against it by its building manager concerning the validity of the exercise of an option to extend the management rights and a six figure claim for unpaid remuneration. This was the first occasion a body corporate had successfully argued, in litigation, that a building manager was not entitled to remuneration if it did not perform the duties. See Melville & Anor v Body Corporate for Santorini by the Sea [2022] QCAT 119.