An owners corporation is the legal group made up of all lot owners in a strata or subdivision scheme. It manages the scheme’s common property, finances, insurance, records, meetings, by-laws and shared maintenance obligations.
An owners corporation is the legal group made up of all lot owners in a strata or subdivision scheme. It is responsible for managing the scheme’s common property, finances, insurance, records, meetings, by-laws and shared maintenance obligations. When you buy an apartment, unit, townhouse or another lot in a strata scheme, you generally become a member of the owners corporation automatically and remain a member for as long as you own the lot. An owners corporation was previously called a body corporate in New South Wales and Victoria. “Body corporate” is still the usual legal term in states and territories such as Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
An owners corporation is formed to manage property and responsibilities shared by multiple lot owners. In a strata development, each owner generally owns a private lot, such as an apartment, townhouse, car space or storage area, and shares ownership or responsibility for common property.
Common property may include:
The owners corporation provides the legal and administrative structure needed to manage these shared areas.
Every registered lot owner in the scheme generally belongs to the owners corporation. Membership usually begins automatically when a person becomes the registered owner of a lot and ends when they sell or transfer that lot. Members may include owner-occupiers, individual investors, companies that own lots, trustees, government organisations, commercial property owners, and owners of car spaces or storage lots where separately titled.
A tenant who rents an apartment is not normally a member of the owners corporation unless the tenant also owns a lot in the scheme. However, tenants must generally follow the scheme’s by-laws or rules.
The process varies between states and territories. An owners corporation is generally created when a strata plan or plan of subdivision containing common property is registered with the relevant land titles authority.
The owners corporation exists as a legal entity separate from its individual members. It can generally hold funds, enter contracts, obtain insurance, employ contractors, engage a strata manager, maintain records, make and enforce by-laws or rules, commence or respond to legal proceedings, and own or manage property and assets. The exact powers and requirements depend on the legislation applying in the state or territory where the property is located.
The owner group performs a broadly similar role across Australia, but its legal name differs.
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Although these organisations perform similar functions, their powers, procedures and legal responsibilities are governed by different state and territory laws.
The owners corporation manages the overall operation of the strata scheme and its common property.
The owners corporation arranges the inspection, maintenance and repair of shared property and building infrastructure. This may include repairing the roof, maintaining lifts, cleaning common areas, maintaining gardens, fixing common plumbing, repairing external walls, servicing fire safety equipment, maintaining gates and access systems, and repairing shared driveways and pathways.
The owners corporation prepares budgets and collects levies from owners to fund the scheme. These funds may pay for routine administration, cleaning and gardening, insurance, minor maintenance, major repairs, capital works, contractors and professional services, and legal and compliance expenses.
The owners corporation generally arranges the building and common property insurance required by the applicable legislation. Individual owners may still need separate insurance for contents, personal belongings, internal improvements and landlord risks.
The owners corporation must keep records of the scheme’s administration. These may include meeting notices and minutes, financial statements, levy records, insurance documents, contracts, correspondence, the strata roll or owners register, by-laws or rules, maintenance plans and building reports.
The owners corporation administers the rules governing the use of lots and common property. By-laws or rules may cover noise, parking, pets, smoking, renovations, waste disposal, damage to common property, moving furniture, short-term accommodation and use of shared facilities. The owners corporation must act within the applicable law when making or enforcing these rules.
Owners collectively make major decisions at properly convened meetings. Decisions may be made by ordinary resolution, special resolution, unanimous resolution or another method required by the relevant legislation, depending on the matter.
Most states allow owners to delegate some day-to-day decisions to a smaller committee, such as a strata committee in NSW, a committee in Victoria or an executive committee in some other jurisdictions. The committee may help with reviewing repair requests, communicating with contractors, monitoring finances, working with the strata manager, responding to owner enquiries, managing routine maintenance and preparing recommendations for general meetings.
The committee acts on behalf of the owners corporation within the authority given to it. The owners corporation can generally restrict, change or overrule committee decisions through the appropriate meeting process.
No. They are different.
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Not exactly. “Body corporate” is the legal term used in Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. In NSW, Victoria and the ACT, the term is generally “owners corporation”. Western Australia uses “strata company”, and South Australia may use “strata corporation” or “community corporation”, depending on the scheme.
In everyday conversation, people may still use “body corporate” when referring to an owners corporation, particularly in Victoria and NSW, where that term was previously used. The applicable legislation and property documents should be checked before using the terms interchangeably in a legal or contractual context.
Owners corporation levies are contributions collected from lot owners to pay for the scheme’s shared expenses. Levies may fund insurance, common property repairs, cleaning, gardening, lift maintenance, strata management, fire safety compliance, shared utilities, administrative costs and long-term capital works.
The amount each owner pays is commonly based on unit entitlement, lot liability or another contribution method established under the applicable legislation and scheme documents. Levies are generally compulsory when validly approved and issued.
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